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North Carolina

Updated July 2010

Contacts:

Overview of Status:

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received funding to conduct a multi-year, detailed resource assessment and modeling initiative for offshore winds near the state's coast. UNC Chapel Hill and Duke Energy have plans to build an offshore pilot project.

Proposed Projects:

Duke Energy and the UNC Chapel Hill plan to construct up to three offshore wind turbines near Hatteras Island as a test for future larger scale development.

Policy and Regulation:

Studies, Research and Development:

UNC Chapel Hill has received $600,000 ($300,000 from Progress Energy and $300,000 of federal stimulus money) to conduct a detailed offshore wind resource assessment and modeling initiative. The work will take place over three years and will build off of the University's earlier feasibility study. Click here for a news article.

A joint effort between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, East Carolina University, and consulting firms resulted in a comprehensive offshore wind feasibility study called Coastal Wind: Energy for North Carolina's Future. The report was commissioned in 2008 and completed in July 2009.

In 2009 the North Carolina Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center published the report Wind Over North Carolina Waters: The State's Preparedness to Address Offshore and Coastal Water-Based Wind Energy Projects.

North Carolina State University received a $99,347 DOE grant to pursue a study called Wind Powering America: The Next Steps in North Carolina.

The Renewable Energy Policy Project joined with the North Carolina State Energy Office and the North Carolina Solar Center to form a North Carolina Coastal Wind Working Group.

The Renewable Energy Policy Project published a report on the North Carolina offshore wind farm approval process. The report covers both federal and North Carolina-specific agencies and regulations. This policy group also published Blending Wind and Solar Into the Diesel Generator Market in 2001, and The Effect of Wind Development on Local Property Values in 2003 (which concluded that wind development did not have a statistically significant impact on property values).

Appalachian State University hosts the North Carolina Wind Working Group, which serves as "an alliance among environmental groups, policy makers, industry members, educators, and citizen action groups who actively pursue wind power options by promoting supportive legislation and responsible siting criteria for development in North Carolina."

Appalachian State University also has an Energy Center which has been active in wind-related activities.

The North Carolina State Energy Office has completed prelimary assessments of offshore wind resources.