March 26 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Tuesday

gave final approval to Orsted and Eversource's

Sunrise Wind offshore wind facility, which is expected to

provide power to more than 320,000 homes in New York.

The announcement was the latest positive development for the

project, which Denmark's Orsted warned just months ago could

fail without a new contract that would cover soaring costs for

equipment and financing.

It was also the seventh offshore wind project approval by

President Joe Biden's Interior Department, which has a goal of

permitting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030 as

part of the president's climate change agenda.

Sunrise Wind, which is expected to be the nation's largest

offshore wind project once it is completed in 2026, was awarded

a conditional contract by New York state officials last month

under a program meant to support the embattled industry.

In a statement, the Interior Department said the project

would have a total capacity of 924 megawatts. It will create

about 800 jobs during construction and 300 during operations.

Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is

responsible for permitting offshore wind facilities, approved

fewer wind turbines than the developer had proposed to reduce

impacts to seafloor habitats and Atlantic cod.

Sunrise Wind will be located about 16 nautical miles south

of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts and 27 nautical miles east

of Montauk, New York.

Orsted is negotiating final terms for the project's 25-year

contract. The company plans to acquire Eversource's 50% stake in

Sunrise Wind, but the utility will lead the project's onshore

construction.

Orsted took a large financial hit on its U.S. offshore wind

portfolio last year and canceled development of two projects in

New Jersey.