Work on the cables to connect the mainland to the Sunrise Wind turbines planned for 30 miles off Montauk Point is underway at Smith Point Park in Shirley. Crews are laying conduits under the park to connect to pipes already installed along William Floyd Parkway on their way to a substation in Holtsville.
Once completed, an array of 86 turbines, each three times higher than the Statue of Liberty, is expected to supply electricity to nearly 600,000 homes. The green energy system is being built by the Danish company Ørsted, with the eventual cost to be borne by the ratepayers.
Workers cordoned off the eastern end of the Smith Point parking lot and are drilling a path under the dunes for three conduits that will eventually accommodate the power lines. The cables will be pulled through the tubes and connect to the windmills 123 miles to the east. The contractors had to build a pier on the north end of the lot to ferry over equipment from Shirley Beach too heavy to traverse the Smith Point Bridge.
The four-wheel-drive path to the Outer Beach was rerouted through the park’s camping area to make way for the equipment. Rows of orange fencing were installed to direct traffic and keep people away from the construction zone. Workers used a mud slurry to drive the conduit hundreds of feet under the parking lot as a large offshore platform loomed on the horizon. Many onlookers were drawn to view the once-in-a-lifetime sight.