Wind Power News: North Carolina
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
New law repeals offshore wind energy lease moratorium
President Joe Biden signed into law this week a sweeping measure that promises to address inflation in part by lowering Americans’ energy costs and bolstering the clean energy economy. The administration said the new law would reduce the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars and create millions of good-paying, clean energy jobs. The Inflation Reduction Act also removes the Trump administration’s 10-year moratorium on offshore wind energy leasing. “That is certainly the most impactful provision for offshore wind for . . . Complete story »
Offshore wind turbine impacts a trade-off, panelists say
WILMINGTON – Heat records have broken across Europe and the U.K., claiming hundreds of lives. Forests in burn-scarred areas of California may not recover because of the severity of wildfires in that state. Cities from the northeastern United States to the west coast are opening cooling centers as a reprieve from heat wave after heat wave sweeping the country. These are a sampling of extreme weather-related events headlining the news this week. On Tuesday, the day the United Kingdom broke . . . Complete story »
Biden ’emergency’ offshore wind push faces Trump roadblock
As part of his efforts to take executive action to address climate change, President Joe Biden said yesterday he would advance offshore wind development for Southeastern states – a prospect seemingly prohibited by a moratorium signed by his predecessor. Wind advocates said they aren’t ready to celebrate yet, instead focused on maintaining a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act currently moving through Congress to reverse the 10-year ban on offshore energy development in the southern Atlantic Ocean signed by former . . . Complete story »
Big Blow: Offshore wind power’s devastating costs and impacts on North Carolina
One of President Joe Biden’s day-one executive orders sought to double offshore wind by 2030, and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued an executive order for developing 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of wind turbine-generated energy by 2030 and 8 GW by 2040. Both Biden and Cooper justified their orders by declaring they would fight climate change, create jobs, and grow the economy. Such an extreme, rushed government intervention in the critical energy sector makes it imperative for policymakers and the public . . . Complete story »
Turning wind into power off the Wilmington coast could be a decade away
Two companies, one based in North Carolina and other one French, agreed last week to pay the federal government more than $300 million to lease two patches of empty ocean roughly 20 miles off the coast of Southeastern North Carolina. The plan is to dot the empty seascape with wind turbines that could reach 800 feet into the sky, helping to power up to 500,000 homes with renewable, clean green energy. It’s an ambitious goal, especially for a country that . . . Complete story »
Visitors concerned possible offshore wind construction will drive tourists away from Morehead City
Beaufort, N.C. – Outer Banks visitors are concerned over the possibility that North Carolina could use parts of Morehead City for offshore wind construction. They believe the $20 million that will be used add wind power to Radio Island will impact the area’s tourism. Radio Island is a mostly untouched stretch of beach near the heart of Morehead City. But much of the area could be paved over as the state looks to the future of wind energy. “You’ve got people . . . Complete story »
U.S. offshore wind plans collide with fishing concerns off Carolina coast
The Biden administration’s plans to develop wind power off the East Coast are drawing concerns from the fishing industry, in the latest example of climate policy colliding with the livelihood of coastal businesses. The Interior Department is set Wednesday to begin an auction for the rights to develop a 110,000-acre site off the Carolinas. The site is nearly the size of eight Manhattan islands about 20 miles offshore and could generate more than 1.3 gigawatts of energy at full capacity . . . Complete story »
Federal government to auction NC offshore wind energy area
An auction this week for a pair of wind-energy leases off of the Brunswick County coast could top $500 million, according to industry observers. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will begin auctioning what it has been calling Wilmington East, a pair of lease areas spread across 172 square miles about 20 miles off of Bald Head Island. The federal agency has approved 16 bidders for the sites, including Avangrid, Duke Energy and Shell. The auction will be . . . Complete story »
Bridge to clean energy: Leaders mull WNC’s energy future
Those “other resources” include two of the most discussed renewable energy sources — wind and solar. Duke’s forthcoming plan will feature “exponential growth” in these areas, Norton said. However, it’s doubtful that much of that generation will occur in Western North Carolina. Wind energy is likely to come mainly from coastal and offshore wind farms, because any productive wind turbine installed in the western part of the state would have to go on a ridgetop. From aesthetic viewshed issues to the logistical and environmental challenges that would go along with cutting roads to deliver gargantuan turbine components to remote ridges — a typical model weighs 164 tons — and digging holes in rocky ground sufficient to anchor them, there are many reasons why large-scale wind energy production is unlikely to happen in Western North Carolina. Complete story »
Feds eye more major wind farms off NC coast
At least five offshore wind-energy projects are now on the horizon for North Carolina. Just ahead of a May 11 auction of lease rights for utility-scale wind farms on two Atlantic Ocean sites about 20 miles from Bald Head Island, federal officials say they now are targeting an additional pair of areas totaling 1.2 million acres off the North Carolina coast. While auctions will determine the next steps for those four sites, planning already is underway for what is being . . . Complete story »
