N.C. wind farm possible

Although Duke Energy Carolinas canceled construction of a demonstration wind project with UNC last week, wind turbine farms might still be in the state’s future.

Apex Wind Energy Inc. filed the first federal application to build a large-scale wind farm off the coast of the state.

The Virginia-based company was encouraged in part by a favorable study by UNC about the feasibility of offshore wind power in the state, said Development Manager Karlis Povisils.

“Offshore is where the most reliable wind is,” said Frank Tursi, assistant director of the N.C. Coastal Federation. “That is where the energy should hit if the goal is to provide energy.”

UNC’s study showed North Carolina would be a good place for wind power because of the abundance of wind resource and the minimal environmental conflict, said Harvey Seim, professor of Marine Sciences at UNC.

While wind farms have been installed successfully in Europe in the last decade, a company has yet to develop a project in the United States, Tursi said.

Part of the reason for the lack of turbines in the U.S. is how expensive they are to build, he said.

Duke Energy’s project on the Pamlico Sound was too small to be cost-effective, but a larger offshore development would make more financial sense, said Jason Walls, a spokesman for the company.

Duke Energy has seen interest from commercial developers who want to build large-scale wind farms, Walls said. His company stopped construction of three turbines after it discovered it would be as costly as $88 million for the first structure, he said.

“We had a number of shocks about just how expensive it would be to install just three turbines,” Seim said.

UNC partnered with Duke Energy on the Pamlico Sound project in 2009 after the N.C. General Assembly asked the school to study the environmental impact of wind turbines.

Wind energy projects have many hurdles because they are expensive and have high construction and transportation costs, Tursi said.

Expect to see local companies like Duke Energy and Progress Energy lobbying for tax exemptions on that basis, he said.

“We certainly encourage state lawmakers to create appropriate incentives,” Walls said, adding that these could include tax credits or an increased number of renewable energy credits given to producers of wind energy.

Seim said the projects also have a long development period, so even if Apex Wind’s application is successful, the state would have to wait at least five to seven years before it saw its first offshore turbines erected.

While wind energy might be a longer and more costly project, it pollutes far less than a coal-fired power plant. The external costs from pollution make wind farms that much more attractive, Tursi said.

“If you were to add them up, how competitive would offshore wind be?” Tursi said.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.