Seeking new wind farms, feds plan to lease more of the Atlantic off NC coast
Within two months, the U.S. Department of the Interior will auction off the rights to build wind turbines in 172 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern North Carolina coast.
The site will be split into two different lease areas, and the department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold an auction on May 11. When it is built out, the site will be able to provide about 1.3 gigawatts of power, enough for almost 500,000 homes.
Both the Biden and Cooper administrations have called offshore wind energy a key part of the efforts to curb the impacts of climate change because it can generate power without emitting greenhouse gases. Biden set a national goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, while Cooper set a state target of 2.8 gigawatts of offshore wind production by 2030 and 8 gigawatts by 2040.
In a statement, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said, “The Biden-Harris administration is committed to supporting a robust clean energy economy, and the upcoming Carolina Long Bay offshore wind energy auction provides yet another excellent opportunity to strengthen our offshore wind industry while creating good-paying union jobs.”
BOEM shrank the Wilmington East area available for leasing by about 14%, from nearly 200 to about 172 square miles. The agency said it made the decision to avoid conflicts with others who use the ocean and to “minimize environmental impacts.”
The federal agency removed all parts of the lease with 20 miles of the North Carolina coast, eliminating about 21 square miles on the lease’s northern side. In a lease memo, BOEM said the blocks on the northern side were removed in response to concerns about whether turbines would be visible from the coast.
Several Brunswick County governments, including the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners and Village of Bald Head Island, passed resolutions calling for any offshore wind development to move at least 27.6 miles off the coast. The governments were concerned that turbines visible from the coast could hurt their tourism industries.
Additionally, BOEM removed about 6.7 square miles on the lease site’s southeastern edge to avoid conflict with a navigational path proposed by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The final sale notice indicates 16 companies are eligible to bid on the lease. Those include Avangrid, which holds the rights to a site off of Kitty Hawk, and Duke Energy Renewables Wind. Other companies eligible to bid include energy giants BP, Ørsted and Shell.
North Carolina reactions
US Rep. David Rouzer, a Wilmington Republican who represents southeastern North Carolina, last year joined Rep. Deborah Ross, a Wake County Democrat, in asking BOEM to quickly lease wind areas identified off the Brunswick County coast.
In a statement Friday, Rouzer said, “I have always supported an all-of-the-above energy strategy, and today’s announcement will ensure North Carolina becomes the natural leader in offshore wind energy it is poised to be. It will also help provide an economic shot in the arm for many communities that desperately need it.”
Rouzer also praised BOEM’s decision to reduce the wind area, moving turbines further from shore.
Environmental groups working in North Carolina also reacted positively to Friday’s news.
Randy Sturgill, a senior field representative for ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana, said the organization is excited about the possibility of renewable energy and jobs.
“It’s critical that we transition away from fossil fuels that are causing climate change and toward clean energy like offshore wind, and our oceans can play an important role in that shift,” Sturgill, who lives in North Carolina, said in a statement.
The lease auction will take place before a 10-year moratorium on energy development off the North Carolina coast becomes effective on July 1, 2022.
Katharine Kollins, president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, praised BOEM’s decision to split the lease into two parcels. In a comment on the proposed sale notice, the coalition called for dividing the lease, suggesting that it would introduce competition that would lead to “cost-effective development.”
“Having two lease areas means more economic benefit for the state through additional competition, development flexibility, and multiple players in the space,” Kollins said in a statement.
Gov. Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 218 last year, setting wind energy targets and moving to develop the industry in North Carolina. Then, last fall, Cooper signed House Bill 951, requiring Duke Energy to cut emissions in power generation 70% from 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
In a statement issued via Twitter on Friday, Cooper said, “The Wilmington East wind area will help us achieve our carbon reduction requirements that we put into law last year. Our leadership in manufacturing, strong workforce and attractive business environment make North Carolina an ideal location for offshore wind manufacturing and supply chain development.”
A credit for supply chain development
BOEM also said its sale notice is designed to encourage the development of a wind energy supply chain, including offering a 20% credit to bidders who agree to invest in wind energy workforce training and supply chain development.
The Wilmington East lease marks the first time BOEM has offered such a credit.
“With demand for U.S. offshore wind leases at an all-time high, this credit could result in ($100) million dollars directly invested into domestic factories, local small businesses and suppliers, and workforce training,” Liz Burdock, CEO and founder of the Business Network for Offshore Wind, said in a statement.
Burdock’s statement indicates that some industry officials believe bidding for the sites could rise as high as $500 million.
Winners of those bids will need to develop communications and engagement plans with multiple groups near the site, including agencies, ocean users, Tribal nations and other underserved communities.
In a statement, Amanda Lefton, BOEM’s executive director, said, “BOEM is focused on ensuring that any development offshore North Carolina is done responsibly, in a way that avoids or minimizes potential impacts to the ocean and ocean users in the region.”
What’s the timeline to build a wind farm?
A lease does not mean construction on the site is imminent. The winning bidder or bidders would still need to submit permit requests and environmental documents
For example, Avangrid won the rights to develop a wind energy lease area off of Corolla in 2017. Since then, the company has been conducting geographic studies and developing plans for the site. BOEM is reviewing the company’s construction and operations plan along with its economic impact statement, with an expected completion date of August 2023.
The Biden administration said last month that it received $4.37 billion in bids for six areas totaling 488,000 acres off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.
The administration has argued that the expansion of wind energy will create new jobs and supply chain avenues. It estimates that if Biden’s wind energy production goals are met, more than 44,000 workers will be employed by the industry by 2030 and that almost 33,000 jobs will be supported in surrounding communities.
At that rate the administration also projects that wind energy will power 10 million American homes annually and decrease C02 emissions by 78 million metric tons.
Amid soaring fuel prices and in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has argued an urgent need to reduce U.S. reliance on oil and gas and increase its output of renewable energy.
“If we do more to invest in clean energy, more to invest in other sources of energy, that’s exactly what we can do to prevent this from happening in the future,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier this month.
This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Seeking new wind farms, feds plan to lease more of the Atlantic off NC coast."
