INTRODUCTION

First, in order to move this public process forward, recent work done to assess the wind resource in coastal North Carolina will be reviewed and made available to the public. This work will include an assessment of the current state of wind technology for on-shore and offshore applications.

Second, representatives of the areas likely to be affected by coastal wind development will be engaged to determine public attitudes towards wind development, both positive and negative. As part of this work, we will open a public process that will map out the current siting and project approval process. Important aspects of assessing coastal NC wind development include the following:

• An initial assessment of oversight responsibilities relative to the federal and state authorities involved with siting. Determining the values important to the citizens of the state likely to be affected by the development and the potential for the process, both as it is currently configured and as it might be amended, to consider these public values.
• A public review should help make the approval process as open and transparent to potential wind developers as possible.
• The Project will undertake concrete steps such as placing up to three wind anemometers in highly motivated communities to determine the actual wind resource.
• A major concern will also be to fashion ways in which local communities can benefit from wind projects, particularly near-shore and offshore projects.
• Finally, the pipeline of potential projects for wind development will be reviewed and ranked in order of interest and potential benefits they can bring to areas of the coastal zone.

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COASTAL WIND WORKING GROUP FOCUS

The North Carolina State Energy Office, the North Carolina Solar Center, and the Renewable Energy Policy Project are initiating this public process by forming the Coastal Wind Working Group. The Coastal Wind Working Group will over the next year undertake several efforts to:

• Improve the wind resource assessment and increase the public awareness of this resource;
• Increase the understanding of the potential for wind energy development in coastal North Carolina and assess the community interest in specific wind developments;
• Develop an initial assessment of the approval path for near-shore and offshore developments;
• Establish where among all the potential sites the best opportunities exist;
• Develop ways by which proximate or affected communities can share in the development of near shore and offshore projects, and;
• Determine how to remove roadblocks to resource development and in particular to assess how best to provide the market access and contracts necessary for commercial development.

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BASIC RESOURCE ASSESSMENT

The North Carolina State Energy Office has undertaken the initial steps to assess the wind resource in the coastal areas of the state. The wind maps based on this initial assessment show significant areas with wind class 3 and above wind resources. The potential is found in all relevant areas: off shore, near shore, and some onshore locations. The next stage of this assessment is to look more closely at the specific areas of opportunity and to begin to overlay the wind resource potential map with other maps outlining other types of information such as geographic, historic, and environmental sensitivities in order to establish areas with the greatest potential for development. In addition, the maps will add an economic assessment of the site desirability by including factors such as distance from roads and cost of transmission interconnection. When finished, the maps will show wind resource, special development restrictions, local community reaction, and economic viability. The intent is to use the resource assessment to determine where the best opportunities for pursuing coastal development exist and structure project development towards these sites.

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ASSESS COMMUNITY INTEREST

A major outreach effort will be conducted to contact the communities in the coastal region. Particular efforts will be made to contact communities of color, educational institutions, farming communities, and businesses to determine their interest in wind power development. Outreach will also be made towards other communities to explain in advance the economic, environmental, and visual impacts of potential developments. The thrust of this effort will be to determine in advance, to the extent possible, community reaction and to work particularly with those communities that see benefits from wind development and have an interest in supporting wind projects.

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SITING AND APPROVAL

The Coastal Wind Working Group believes that a responsible approach towards siting this resource must meet two objectives. The process for siting and approval should be responsive to public demands and should allow an appropriate balance of state and federal interests. The siting and approval process must also be as transparent as possible in order to make the resource reasonably available to developers. Offshore wind development is in its earliest stages in the United States. One project is actively being pursued in the Cape Cod region but has not obtained the permits necessary for development. The uncertainty and confusion associated with the Cape development has resulted in several attempts to draft legislation streamlining the federal licensing requirements. Experience with the Cape project has shown that both federal and state authorities can influence project approval. What is not clear is the lines of authority between federal and state authorities. Desirable development can be thwarted by uncertainty. We believe that establishing at least an initial assessment of the siting process can reduce that uncertainty and make the process more open and transparent. It is important to get an understanding of the siting and approval process from the agencies with oversight of the process at the federal and state level. That assessment of the approval process can then be judged against the desires of the public. A major goal of this effort is to identify the important state interests that should be considered in the permitting process, assess the likelihood of having these interests appropriately considered in the present approval scheme, and suggesting appropriate changes in the event state interests are judged to be inadequately considered. To view the siting and approval report, "Offshore Wind Farm Approval Process, North Carolina", click here.

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PROJECT DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The wind maps show that the wind resource is strongest offshore but that near and on shore sites also can be economically developed. We fully expect that some of the potential sites will be identified for any number of reasons as undesirable. At the same time, we believe that the ability of wind energy development to deliver substantial economic development benefits to localities in which projects are located will be attractive to some of the coastal communities. The goal of this effort will be to establish an initial pipeline of projects that meet a minimum threshold of attractiveness for development. The pipeline will be compared to the potential demand for wind, taking into account policy mandates such as the NC GreenPower pricing targets. Once this pipeline has been established, it will be a goal of the project to examine how the maximum economic benefits can be delivered to local communities.

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COMMUNITY SHARE IN DEVELOPMENT

In rural areas that have already experienced substantial wind energy development farmers have shared in the projects by receiving royalty payments based on the installed capacity on their land. These payments have usually taken the form of royalty payments per turbine installed. For offshore projects no models exist to demonstrate how nearby or affected communities can share in the economic benefits of the developments. This project will work to develop potential models that can bring a share of the projects benefits to affected communities and will work with interested communities to select the most desirable mechanisms.

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PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AIDS

Substantial uncertainty in energy markets makes it difficult for renewable projects to be developed without support. These supports most often take the form of contracted purchase of output either to satisfy green pricing program purchases or meet renewable portfolio standards requirements. There are other potential public demands that can also be translated into supports sufficient to allow project developments. An aim of this assessment will be to assemble the public demands for wind power in the foreseeable future in North Carolina and offer those to potential developers in coastal areas.

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