Governor Cooper promotes wind-powered energy in Wilmington visit

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Thursday, Governor Roy Cooper visited Wilmington and spoke with commerce officials and local business owners about wind powered energy.

Back in 2018, North Carolina made a commitment to reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. In a speech Thursday, Cooper said he believes wind turbines could help reach that goal and make our state a lot of money.

“We’re already in the top five states in the country in solar installed capacity,” Cooper said. “Clean energy is the right thing for our planet and our pocket books.”

Cooper said because of North Carolina’s commitment to lower carbon emissions, several companies are reaching out to provide options. While offshore wind turbines have been in operation more than 30 years in other countries, it’s a relatively new market here in the United States. Cooper said it’s a major opportunity to power our homes.

According to Cooper, “Enough for 700,000 homes. Another for 500,000 homes. But the supply that’s created with offshore wind can create jobs right here in North Carolina.”

Sites off the coasts of Oak Island, Bald Head Island, and Holden Beach could house offshore wind turbines, but have generated some concerns. Oak Island Mayor Elizabeth White said she still had unanswered questions about the turbines’ effects on tourism, erosion, and fishing among other things.

“There are just so many questions,” she continued, “I don’t know that the project is down the road far enough to be able to say whether we support this project or don’t support this project.”

Bald Head Island issuing a statement in response, saying, “The Village of Bald Head Island is in support of renewable energy development, including offshore wind energy, but is concerned about the visual impacts of the wind turbines which are currently proposed to be placed within 15 nautical miles of our beaches.  Another concern is where the land based infrastructure is going to go and how that may impact the island. ”

Another concern: whether clean energy will benefit local communities. According to Southeastern Wind Coalitions’ Jaimie Simmons, turbines could have a direct impact on local towns, providing more jobs just a few nautical miles away.

“These components, large turbine components, really need to be built on the water,” she explained. “Because they’re that big. They can’t be carried in by road or rail. They need to be assembled or potentially manufactured on the water. And that’s great news for Southeastern North Carolina.” 

Though no official decision has been made about when turbines could go in, companies have already begun work off Kitty Hawk’s shore to install turbines.