Wind Power News: North Carolina
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort 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.
Long-delayed plans for North Carolina’s second wind farm back on track
Apex Clean Energy’s long-delayed Timbermill Wind project seems finally back on track, as the Virginia-based company has asked N.C. regulators to approve the 189-megawatt project. The company says it wants to start construction on the $246 million project in Chowan County by November 2022 and hopes to complete it a year later. It would be just the second wind farm in North Carolina after the 208-megawatt Amazon Wind Farm in Perquimans and Pasquotank counties owned and operated by Avangrid Renewables . . . Complete story »
Brunswick officials’ worries over offshore wind unresolved
Brunswick County beach towns are back to square one in a push to ensure potential offshore wind farms are out of the line of sight from shore. “Nothing has changed,” said Village of Bald Head Island Councilor Peter Quinn. “We’re still in the exact same situation. Nothing has been addressed.” The village council first adopted a resolution in 2015 urging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, to establish a buffer for offshore wind energy leases no closer than . . . Complete story »
Apex: Timbermill wind farm to be online in late 2023
A representative of Apex Clean Energy told Chowan County officials last week the company expects the Timbermill wind energy project will be up and running by late 2023. Don Giecek of Apex cited the timetable in a presentation to the Chowan Board of Commissioners at the board’s Aug. 2 meeting. Although an earlier version of the proposed Timbermill project included sites in Perquimans County, county officials in Perquimans did not approve the Perquimans portion of the project and the current . . . Complete story »
County pushes back on offshore wind turbines
Brunswick County Commissioners want any offshore wind turbines built off of local beaches to be at least 24 nautical miles away so they don’t impact tourism and the view of the coast. Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution Monday in opposition to any wind energy leases within 24 nautical miles of North Carolina’s shoreline. They want the same protections the federal government’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has established for the State of Virginia and other areas of coastal North . . . Complete story »
Prospect of visible ocean wind farms unites Brunswick towns in opposition
BRUNSWICK COUNTY – There’s a campaign afoot in Brunswick County and its coastal townships to thwart the installation of offshore wind turbines within 24 nautical miles of the shoreline. The opposition movement began earlier this summer in Bald Head Island. The village council approved a resolution in May that makes it clear any efforts to place wind farms within the island’s viewshed – the territory of ocean in which the turbines could be seen from the beach, or the Old Baldy lighthouse – . . . Complete story »
Brunswick County commissioners unanimously opppose offshore wind turbines
The Brunswick Commissioners extended the usual “not-in-my-backyard” thinking to “not-within-27-miles” Monday, voting to oppose construction of wind turbines within 24 nautical miles (about 27 miles) of the county’s shoreline. Although no wind-energy projects are planned for the area, the federal government has identified three Wind Energy Areas (WEA) off the North Carolina coast as potential sites for turbines, which would harness offshore wind to produce electricity. Two are off the coast of Brunswick County and one is off Kitty Hawk, . . . Complete story »
Commissioners pass resolution opposing wind turbines built too close to shore
If you visit Brunswick County beaches and you look out onto the horizon, you might see a boat or two, but for the most part, it’s empty. The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners wants to make sure that doesn’t change. That’s why commissioners unanimously passed a resolution on Monday that would keep the coast clear by discouraging any potential wind turbines to be built along the coast. While there aren’t any plans in the works for new wind turbines, the . . . Complete story »
Brunswick board to stake out position on offshore turbines
Offshore wind turbines are back on the radar for southeastern North Carolina local governments. Brunswick County’s board of commissioners will consider a resolution opposing offshore wind turbines sited fewer than 24 nautical miles of the shoreline, following the lead of a handful of its oceanfront towns, including Bald Head Island, Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach and Caswell Beach. The board is set to meet at 3 p.m. Monday in the commissioners’ chambers, Sandifer Administration Building, 30 Government Center Drive, Bolivia. . . . Complete story »
Review, public meetings set for Kitty Hawk wind project
WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior announced Thursday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will conduct an environmental review of the proposed Kitty Hawk wind energy project off the North Carolina coast and three online public meetings have been scheduled for August. The project, if approved, would be the first to operate offshore of North Carolina and has the potential to provide considerable economic benefits to the region during construction and throughout the project’s lifetime, officials said. The project . . . Complete story »
Offshore wind turbines: not in my backyard
Even as Gov. Roy Cooper sets ambitious goals for electricity production from green sources like wind energy, a growing contingent of coastal communities are pushing back with “not in my backyard” concerns. The complicated, long-running story of wind energy off the Carolinas goes back to 2014 when the federal government’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) first laid it on the table. Now, the effort faces a July 2022 deadline before all offshore energy leases – including oil, natural gas . . . Complete story »
