Wind power plays tiny role in North Carolina’s grid, could that be changing?

It’s been nearly 10 years since North Carolina developed its first wind farm, but the industry hasn’t seen much growth in the state since then.

In 2015, developers, local leaders and then-Gov. Pat McCrory gathered at the border of Pasquotank and Perquimas Counties to break ground on what would not only be the first utility-scale wind development in the state, but the first in the southeast.

“I’m glad to be a part of clean energy and I’m glad we’re also creating jobs for North Carolinians, because that’s what it’s all about,” McCrory said.

It became operational in 2017, and the 104-turbine wind farm, known as Amazon Wind , has the capacity to power 61,000 homes.

It also remains the only operating wind farm in the state, but that’s changing.

Why is there so little wind power in North Carolina?

According to the Southeast Wind Coalition, it’s a mix of geographic and environmental concerns, local moratoriums and limited understanding of where the wind resource works across the southeast.

“We know that it’s the strongest on the coast, those are generally places that have a lot of other primary uses like farming, agriculture but it’s also places where the military does a lot of flight training and readiness,” Karly Lohan, the Carolinas program and outreach manager, said. “The resource that exists in the mountains is kind of off limits because we have the Ridgeline Protection Act, which prevents anything of a certain height to be built.”

Compared to solar, wind didn’t have as many options for utility-scale locations and had a much longer path to development.

With newer wind technology, Lohan said more locations are showing potential and more developers are showing interest. Timbermill Wind broke ground this year promising to provide nearly as much power as the Amazon Wind farm with just 45 turbines. The project is set to start operations early next year.

Both Amazon Wind and Timbermill are part of the PJM power grid, which only serves a fraction of North Carolina.

Duke Energy is also taking steps on its own wind developments, though none are currently under construction.

Why would North Carolina want wind power?

North Carolina’s energy law, codified through HB 951, requires the state reduce its carbon emissions from power production to 70 percent of 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050. Nearly all clean energy advocates and Duke Energy agree that solar alone won’t cut it.

Wind energy not only provides a carbon-free power generating source, but Justin Somelofske with the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, believes its biggest asset is the way it can complement the state’s solar buildout.

“ It is most active overnight,” he said.

That’s especially true of North Carolina’s biggest potential wind power source, Offshore wind which tends to be even more reliable than land-based wind and peaks during winter mornings, a time in which the state typically sees some of its highest energy demand.

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“If Winter Storm Elliot or a similar event were to happen again, we would have offshore wind to help mitigate a lot of the rolling blackouts that occurred during that event,” Somelofske said.

How is offshore wind different?

Offshore wind produces far more power per turbine, more often because wind is stronger and more regular off the coast.

“We’re talking about the potential for eight nuclear reactors worth of energy off our coast in the next 16 years,” Jennifer Mundt with the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Offshore Wind Task Force

However offshore wind areas are typically cited a dozen or more miles off the coast, making everything from permitting to construction to environmental protection to connecting to the grid much more complicated. That’s why it’s what’s known as a “long-lead-time resource” and like other long-lead-time resources such as nuclear, recent development has seen its share of costly delays.

Several projects up and down the Atlantic coast have been canceled over the past few years, costing developers billions. Mundt acknowledges the post-covid economy has not been kind to the industry that’s just starting to get a foothold in the United States.

“Between supply chain disruption, geopolitical energy instability and inflation it was really a perfect storm of issues,” Mundt said.

Add in a federal permitting and environmental review process, state-by-state energy policies for developers to navigate and years of expensive work before they can start selling their power, and bringing a project to fruition can look daunting.

Is anyone making offshore wind work?

Vineyard Wind, the first utility-scale offshore wind development started producing power earlier this year, though its construction is still ongoing. The process from lease auction to power connection took about nine years. Its developer, Avangrid, is also the leaseholder for one of North Carolina’s proposed projects.

Closer to home, Dominion Energy started construction this year on its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. The company claims the project remains on budget and should meet its projected completion date in 2026.

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Lohan hopes both of these projects can serve as valuable lessons as North Carolina sets its sights on potential developments.

“They’re doing a lot of things right and they’ve been able to do that because they have certainty at the legislative level, at the regulatory level,” she said.

What is the status of offshore wind in North Carolina?

Currently, there are two federal lease areas off the coast that have been purchased by developers. Kitty Hawk is 27 miles off the coast of the Outer Banks, and Carolina Long Bay is 22 miles off the coast of Brunswick County.

Kitty Hawk is divided into a northern and southern portion. Avangrid was the original lease-buyer and entered an agreement this month to sell the northern portion of its lease to Dominion Energy. Dominion plans to develop the area as a southern addition to its CVOW project.

The southern portion remains in Avangrid’s possession and faces a similar roadblock as the leaseholders to the Carolina Long Bay site.

Totalenergies and Duke Energy Renewables, a development arm of Duke Energy, each own a portion of the lease and have begun pre-development work, if the projects are to move forward however, Lohan said both the Kitty Hawk and Carolina Long Bay developers need to know there’s a framework for selling their power and a buyer waiting.

The NCSEA hopes that buyer will be Duke Energy.

The organization is calling on the North Carolina Utilities Commission and Duke to commit to setting a framework for a power purchase agreement for offshore wind and to start taking steps towards that goal by the end of the year. The NCUC is currently reviewing the utility’s integrated resource plan, which sets the company’s plans for future power generation while meeting the state’s carbon goals.

“We are waiting and knocking on the door to interconnect offshore wind but we need Duke Energy and the commission to approve the necessary steps to get it in generation,” Somelofske said.

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Without that framework, Lohan said developers could lose interest in North Carolina’s wind leases or, like Kitty Hawk North, look for buyers elsewhere.

“There are other states that want wind and developers aren’t just limited to North Carolina, just because their lease is off the coast of North Carolina,” she said.

Experts say if these projects get the signal to move forward, the first offshore wind power could come to North Carolina by the early 2030s.

(VIDEO: Crews slowly transport turbine in Lincoln County along major roads)