TYNER — Gov. Roy Cooper praised wind clean energy projects during a blade-signing ceremony at Apex Clean Energy’s Timbermill Wind project site Wednesday, saying they are necessary to stop global warming and good for the state’s economy.
Cooper cited three reasons why he believes wind energy is good for North Carolina.
“Number one is producing clean energy,” he said. “Number two is that they’ll serve as a massive tax base that will help funding public schools (in places like) here (in Chowan County.) And three, they are also providing rent to farmers to help supplement their income.
“We’re excited that this project will help us in our efforts to fight climate change while bringing economic development to eastern North Carolina,” he said.
Apex officials previously have said the Timbermill project represents a $350 million investment in Chowan County, and will create 150 jobs during its construction as well as about a dozen jobs for workers who will maintain the wind turbines over the 30 years the wind farm is expected to operate. Over those three decades, Apex expects to pay Chowan County $33 million in taxes, the company has said.
The Timbermill project will generate 189 megawatts of electricity, enough power to supply 47,000 homes during a year’s operation. The turbines are manufactured using a global supply chain, but an Apex official said the larger components — the blades and nacelles — are manufactured in the United States.
Apex’s 45-wind turbine project is the first commercial wind farm to be built in North Carolina since 2017. The only other is the 104-turbine Amazon Wind Farm U.S. East project in nearby Pasquotank County. No offshore developments have been constructed.
Asked why he believes only two wind farm projects have been built in North Carolina, Cooper blamed politics.
“There are a number of legislators as well as the federal government before Joe Biden, who strongly opposed offshore wind,” he said. “The Legislature put in place an 18-month moratorium for offshore (wind turbines).”
He said he hoped he could swing bipartisan support for more clean energy wind development.
“We have to get past all of that,” he said. “I think we have this project that has the support of Republicans and Democrats. The people of North Carolina know that this is going to be such an economic boon for eastern North Carolina.”
The Timbermill Wind project’s turbines sit on 10,000 acres of rented farmland that will continue to grow crops. The turbines stand 345 feet tall, 591 feet when the blades are fully extended. The turbines have three 250-foot-long blades. Each turbine generates enough current in 46 minutes to power the average American home for one month. The wind farm will generate enough electricity to power 47,000 homes each year.
The electricity will be available on the regional power grid that serves North Carolina. Amazon purchases the power as part of an offset plan which allows the company to say that fund enough renewable energy around the country to offset the electricity it uses to run its operations. Amazon says that thanks to projects like Timbermill, its operations will be carbon neutral by 2030.
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