LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Feds propose wind-energy leases off North Carolina coast 

Credit:  Feds propose wind-energy leases off NC coast | By Bruce Henderson | Charlotte Observer | Jan. 22, 2015 | www.charlotteobserver.com ~~

The Interior Department has released an environmental study that supports the potential lease of 300,000 acres off the North Carolina coast for wind farms.

Leases could be sold to wind developers in three areas of federal waters off the coast. At least five companies have expressed interest in developing wind projects off North Carolina.

“In close coordination with our partners in North Carolina, we are moving forward to determine what places make sense to harness the enormous wind energy potential off the Atlantic seaboard,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement Thursday.

The areas selected include about 122,000 acres 24 miles off Kitty Hawk, on the Outer Banks. An area of 51,000 acres is 10 miles off Wilmington and 133,000 acres is 15 miles off Bald Head Island near Southport, on the state’s southern tip.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, part of the Interior Department, says those areas were picked because they protect views from shore and wildlife habitat. The wind zones would also not conflict with military operations, fishing or shipping.

Further environmental studies would be done if and when wind farms are proposed.

The bureau said it will hold three public meetings in North Carolina in February but has not yet released specific locations. They’re Feb. 9 on the northern Outer Banks, Feb. 11 in Wilmington and Feb. 12 in Carolina Shores or Sunset Beach.

A 2009 study by UNC-Chapel Hill for state legislators found that offshore North Carolina has some of the most potent wind energy on the Atlantic coast.

Zak Keith, lead organizer for the North Carolina Sierra Club, called the announcement “a huge opportunity to create jobs and investment in the clean energy sector without the risks of oil spills” from offshore drilling.

The Obama administration has accelerated wind-energy development as a response to climate change.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has awarded seven commercial wind leases off Massachusetts, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maryland and Virginia. It is expected to hold competitive lease sales for areas off Massachusetts on Jan. 29 and New Jersey later this year.

Source:  Feds propose wind-energy leases off NC coast | By Bruce Henderson | Charlotte Observer | Jan. 22, 2015 | www.charlotteobserver.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon