The Biden administration announced Thursday that it will begin an environmental review of its offshore wind farm project off the south shore of Long Island.

The review of the Empire Wind project by the Norwegian company Equinor is an important step in the construction and operation of 174 wind turbines nearly 12 nautical miles from the South Shore. Equinor won a contract with the state in 2019 to supply 816 MW of electricity to the connected public grid in Brooklyn.

According to a federal announcement on Empire Wind, the project will include two offshore substations, two offshore electrical cable trays, up to three cable landings, up to three onshore electrical cable trays and two onshore substations. .. Details of cable route and landing point are not provided. Substations convert energy from generators such as wind turbines into energy available on the grid.

An Equinor spokesperson did not immediately respond to Newsday’s question.

The turbine model Equinor plans to use for the project is unknown, but in the past it was said to be 14 miles instead of 12 miles, as reported in the announcement Thursday. If the Equinor uses a state-of-the-art turbine with a height of 800 feet or more, including the tip of the blade, it could generate much more than the 816 MW predicted at Empire Wind I, about 15 miles away. of Jones Beach. there is. New York. The turbine will be visible from Long Island, officials said.

The agency said the wind turbine would be nearly 17 nautical miles from New Jersey.

Equinor has won state contracts from New York State for three separate wind power projects over 3,300 MW. Following the Empire Wind I project, two prizes were awarded in January. Empire Wind 2 is also located just south of Empire Wind 1 in the waters off Long Island, known as New York Bay. Here, Equinor leases 80,000 acres of water from the federal government.

Commercial fishing groups oppose turbines in much of the region, saying scallops, squid and other fishing grounds are essential. Equinor is also developing a project known as Beacon Wind, which will produce 1,230 MW from another lease off Massachusetts. The project will also supply New York with more than 100 miles of submarine cables.

As part of the environmental review, the Federal Department of Marine Energy issued a notice of intent to begin the environmental review on Friday, with three virtual bulletins for review on June 30, July 8 and July 13. Hold a “scoping†meeting.

Registration for the meeting can be found here: https://www.boem.gov/Empire-Wind-Scoping-Virtual-Meetings