Meredith College hosted a forum on Wednesday, April 18, in Raleigh. A panel discussion was held on North Carolina’s offshore wind power as well as energy competition for Meredith residence halls, according to NC Policy Watch.
Marcilynn Burke, Acting Assistant Secretary at the Department of the Interior, who oversees the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, attended the forum, where she talked about the state’s offshore wind resource. The Bureau has jurisdiction over offshore wind leases, and this year the first lease blocks in federal waters off North Carolina’s coast are expected to become available.
This state has the largest offshore wind resource on the East coast, estimated potential of 297 GW, and is already manufacturing facilities for turbine parts. It continues to draw related business interest, as Ming Yang Wind Power announced last month that it will be opening a research and development facility in Raleigh.
ABB and PPG are already manufacturing parts to support the onshore wind farms, which puts North Carolina in a good position to support its emerging offshore wind industry.
Other panelists at the forum were: Deborah Ross, NC House of Representatives; Art Howard, award winning photographer and videographer; John Williams, Assistant Secretary for Energy, NC Department of Commerce; Brian O’Hara, President of the North Carolina Offshore Wind Coalition and Dr. John Bane, Professor of Marine Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill.
The forum was presented by the Meredith College, NC Sierra Club and Interfaith Power & Light.
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Offshore WIND staff, April 19, 2012