$600-Million Iberdrola Wind Farm Gets Approved in North Carolina

A former home state of mine, North Carolina, may soon have a 300-MW wind farm in the Eastern part of the state. A Portland, Oregon-based subsidiary of Spain’s Iberdrola, Iberdrola Renewables Inc., just got approval to build the projected, which is estimated to cost around $600 million.

After a few more regulatory hurdles — environmental, wildlife, and military flight path reviews, for example — Iberdrola Renewables is hoping to start construction by the end of the year.

Coastal North Carolina is an attractive location for wind developers — it’s got strong, steady winds and communities that support and want clean energy. With over 40 large U.S. wind farms built over the last 10 years or so, Iberdrola Renewables is looking to be the first to build a commercial-scale wind farm in North Carolina.

“The fundamentals of any wind farm boil down to a strong and steady wind resource, access to transmission and a supportive community and we have all of those at this location,” Iberdrola Renewables spokesman Paul Copleman said.

This project is being called Desert Wind Power, named after the 20,000 acres of scrubland where it would be built. It would be built on 31 square miles of farmland in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties near Elizabeth City. If it goes well, Iberdrola is already eyeing other parts of the state for more wind farm projects.

This 300-megawatt wind farm would create enough power for approximately 55,000 to 70,000 North Carolina homes. It could potentially receive a federal cash grant covering 30% of the project cost. The $600 projected total cost is based on a standard industry average of $2 per 1 MW, as Iberdrola Renewables has not released official cost projections.

As I wrote last March, It has been found that offshore wind off the coast of North Carolina could potentially power the entire state (and more). Hopefully we’ll see several more onshore and offshore wind farms in North Carolina soon.

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Image via James Jordan