October 12, 2011
North Carolina

Wind farm set for public hearing in Eastern North Carolina

John Murawski, newsobserver.com 11 October 2011

The public will have an opportunity to weigh in on the pros and cons of a proposed 11,000-acre wind-energy farm planned in Beaufort County.

The N.C. Utilities Commission, which is reviewing the application for the 80-megawatt project, will hold its first public hearing at the Beaufort County Courthouse on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.

The 49-turbine Pantego Wind Energy Project is expected be completed late next year. If approved and built on schedule, it would likely be the state’s first industrial-scale wind farm.

The commission will hold a second hearing Dec. 6 in Raleigh to consider evidence from accountants, engineers and other experts.

The Pantego project was proposed in September by Invenergy, a company that operates more than two dozen wind farms in this country.

In addition to the N.C. Utilities Commission, the Pantego proposal requires federal environmental approvals and from U.S. military installations.

The project would have a capacity factor of 25 percent to 36 percent, which means that it would generate that portion of its maximum energy capacity. Wind farms and solar farms generate less than 50 percent of their maximum capacity because they depend on favorable weather conditions.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/12/wind-farm-set-for-public-hearing-in-eastern-north-carolina/