offshore wind

Workforce January 14, 2021

State launches Offshore Wind Training Institute, again

By GREGORY ZELLER // Representing the largest public investment by any state in offshore wind workforce development, New York’s Offshore Wind Training Institute is now afloat. Seriously. The State University of New York and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority launched (or is it re-launched?) the $20 million OWTI this week, aiming to train 2,500 workers through an “educational infrastructure” administered by NYSERDA, Farmingdale State College and Stony Brook University. Announced as…

Voices December 11, 2020

COVID’s tough, but climate change is the bigger threat

By MICHAEL H. SAHN // We are at a pivotal moment regarding environment protection, and just as we fast-tracked a COVID-19 vaccine, we must act swiftly – relying on science – to reverse global warming. Climate change, and its wide-ranging effects on our business environments and everyday lives, is no less a health risk than the coronavirus. And like COVID-19, it’s a crisis we cannot ignore. In a Dec. 2 speech on the ecological state…

Clean Energy October 12, 2020

Wind warriors earn support in Wainscott beach battle

By GREGORY ZELLER // With local opposition still pushing against the tide, Long Island wind-power backers are applauding new state support for a plan to land an undersea transmission cable on a Wainscott beach. Five New York State agencies – including the NYS Department of Public Service, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the NYS Department of Transportation – have signed a “joint proposal,” already supported by local governments and regional environmental groups, calling…

Clean Energy September 28, 2020

On Jones Beach, a new beachhead in the climate war

By GREGORY ZELLER // An all-season “net zero” nature and energy educational resource has risen on the climate battle’s front lines. Less than two years after it was first announced, the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center has officially opened its doors, offering an informative and entertaining journey through New York’s natural systems – and a glimpse at the state’s ambitious plans to combat climate change. A few things have changed since the emission-free center…

Newsletters August 28, 2020

No. 527: On angry winds, sustained science and better mental health – we’ll sip to that!

Days, and confused: This much we know, dear readers – it’s Friday, Aug. 28, and you’ve completed another summer workweek in the cruel parallel universe that is COVID-19. Just one more week to go before a fashionably late Labor Day Weekend, then the opening of schools, or the delayed opening, or partial opening or non-opening or whatever. Not even sure they know yet. Stay tuned. Knot interested: You don’t even wear a necktie anymore,…

Clean Energy August 27, 2020

New York delegation: End offshore-wind delays now

By GREGORY ZELLER // Long Island political, environmental and labor leaders are calling on Washington to quit stalling and finally designate a final Wind Energy Area in New York waters. On Wednesday – after sending a letter to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt formally calling for the designation, signed by a bipartisan selection of New York’s Congressional delegation – U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY 4) joined local environmental and labor leaders in…

Artificial Intelligence July 8, 2020

Tomorrow’s turbines, today, on SBU supercomputers

By GREGORY ZELLER // Supercomputers, artificial intelligence and next-generation turbine controls will work together to design the offshore wind farms of the future – a key step for the burgeoning national industry, and for Long Island’s emergence as a national wind-power leader. Stony Brook University has landed a $1.1 million award from the National Offshore Wind Research & Development Consortium, earmarked for a College of Engineering and Applied Science study that will unite advanced technologies…

Energy May 20, 2020

LIPA weighs ‘retirement’ at ‘vintage’ Northport plant

By GREGORY ZELLER // Drawing direct parallels to several critical issues – including the COVID-19 pandemic – the Long Island Power Authority is pushing hard to push the Island’s steam-driven power plants into retirement. Accompanying the Northport Power Station’s annual Property Tax Report, LIPA on Wednesday released a Repowering Feasibility Study that shows “accelerating the retirement” of the Northport station could contribute to hundreds of millions of saved consumer dollars, while bolstering Albany’s overall environmental…

Clean Energy January 16, 2020

Island schools to run $20M institute for wind-farmers

By GREGORY ZELLER // The winds of workforce development are blowing again through Long Island’s leading academic institutions, two of which will anchor a new state-sanctioned project targeting the offshore wind industry. Farmingdale State College and Stony Brook University will leverage a $20 million New York State Energy Research and Development Authority grant to create the Offshore Wind Training Institute, a worker-readiness effort focused on the burgeoning clean-gen industry, which looms large over future regional…

News October 7, 2019

Albany eyeing ‘qualifications’ for $200M port plan

By GREGORY ZELLER // Hard to port! No, don’t make a quick left turn – but if you’re a waterfront-based enterprise focused on port operations and related markets, you’ll want to turn your attention to Albany’s latest Request for Qualifications. With the offshore-wind industry really starting to howl, marine-support and other waterfront operations will become critical components of the statewide economy – particularly on Long Island, where offshore-wind infrastructure figures to rise fast. To that…

Clean Energy August 27, 2019

Ominous winds blow, but offshore efforts hold steady

By GREGORY ZELLER // President Trump is tapping the breaks on offshore-wind development, but the burgeoning billion-dollar industry is still poised to reset environmental and economic barometers. That’s the word from world-class energy guru Robert Catell, chairman of the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, who’s staying calm in response to the announcement that the Trump Administration is delaying permits for the first major U.S. offshore wind farm, until such time that the administration…

Voices May 31, 2019

Giving the LI innovation economy plenty of STEAM

By ROSALIE DRAGO // Employers in technical trades lament the loss of “shop” class and its hands-on maker skills. Business owners complain that candidates possess minimal work experience. But there is tremendous work-readiness power in STEAM – enough to fuel a 21st century workforce. Beginning in elementary school, education institutions are using STEAM (for science, technology, engineering, arts and math) to contextualize core classroom subjects in a way that aligns with skills required by the…

Opinion July 16, 2018

New York risks losing offshore wind jobs, leadership

By JOHN DURSO and ROSS GOULD // They say you need to lead, follow or get out of the way. In New York, we’ve never been good at the last two. But we are in danger to being relegated to those positions, if we don’t act affirmatively and decisively on a plan to grow our offshore wind capabilities – and, in turn, our available and high-paying jobs – on Long Island. Last week, the New…