The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) formally announced plans yesterday to transform a Rossville Municipal Site, a 33-acre City-owned waterfront industrial property on Staten Island into a state-of-the-art offshore wind (OSW) port facility, for manufacturing and assembling wind turbine components. In doing so, the NYCEDC will partner with Northpoint Development for the creation of the site, and the College of Staten Island, which will receive $566K in State funding to help train professionals for offshore wind careers.

The groundbreaking announcement, held yesterday at the Rossville site, was introduced by NYCEDC Chief Operating Officer Melissa Román Burch, and was attended by Interim President Timothy G. Lynch, as well as State Senator Andrew Lanza, Assemblyman Michael Cusick, Councilman Joe Borelli, Northpoint Development Vice President of Development David Rickard, Assemblyman Michael Reilly, and other agency representatives. The initiative in Rossville will help conform with New York State law that dictates the State has 70% of its electricity come from renewable energy sources by 2030 and the development of 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035. It will be transformative for the College, allowing CSI to rise as a premiere education and training site for offshore wind initiatives

“We are excited about the opportunity this investment from the State and City represents for our students and the local community,” said Dr. Lynch. “Through a comprehensive strategy, the College is developing programs to meet the needs of the emerging offshore wind industry with research and innovation; through workforce development; and in partnership with local agencies, employers, and prestigious STEM-degree programs.”

In his address to the group, Dr. Lynch explained that funding from the State will support an anticipated Renewable Energy Systems Facility (RESL) as well as upgrades to CSI’s Power Systems Laboratory, Applied Mechanics Laboratory, and Geology Teaching Laboratory. New equipment will include a Wind Turbine Power System Testbed, a Wind Turbine Training System, Power Grid Training Systems, and Loadflow Analysis Software. The upgrades will be complemented by the completion of a new Makerspace Lab, a state-of-the-art center that will include laser cutters, lathes, welding, and milling machines, enhancing support for CSI’s Workforce Development and degree programs.

“This allows us to build on the exciting work centered around the Department of Engineering and Environmental Science at CSI and will be interdisciplinary in nature, involving departments in our Chazanoff School of Business, Computer Science, and our Workforce Development Program,” Dr. Lynch said. “Together, these investments will allow us to train the critical workers needed by the offshore wind industry and will pipeline students into jobs as engineers, environmental scientists, wind technicians, machinists, and more.”

CSI’s commitment to Offshore Wind initiatives will be complemented by The City University of New York’s support through the addition of new faculty and staff, including a dedicated academic advisor and industry liaisons to further develop CSI as a national leader in Offshore Wind education.

Work is already underway at the former Rossville Marina site, which combines city-owned property and private land that will be developed by NorthPoint into an offshore wind manufacturing plant covering 100 acres of Staten Island’s West Shore.