Wind Energy

When the Danish wind developer Orsted last week announced it was canceling two New Jersey offshore wind projects, it set off a bit of a panic over the industry's fate. Headlines called it a threat to the Biden administration's energy agenda and a "moment of reckoning" for the U.S. offshore wind industry.

A planned wind farm in eastern North Carolina's Chowan County has signed a deal with Google for its entire output. Apex Clean Energy plans to build the Timbermill Wind project on about 6,300 acres in Chowan County, near Edenton. Google has signed a power purchase agreement for the project's full 189 megawatts, the companies said Tuesday.

Gov. Roy Cooper says he's disappointed with the federal government's decision to exclude two sites off North Carolina from a new round of offshore wind leasing areas.

Duke Energy has reached a deal to sell its unregulated commercial wind and solar business for $2.8 billion. And it says it's making progress on the sale of another division that provides rooftop solar to businesses.

The project's developer, Apex Clean Energy, says the turbines will be one-quarter to one-half mile apart on managed timberland and farmland. Their capacity to generate 189 megawatts of electricity will be enough to power 47,000 homes, according to Apex.

NC Attorney General Josh Stein says state regulators should reject Duke Energy's proposals for reducing carbon from energy generation and instead, adopt a plan that meets the state's clean energy goals and costs less.

Public hearings in Asheville and Charlotte this week will give people a chance to comment on how North Carolina should reduce carbon emissions from power plants to fight climate change. Governor Roy Cooper and the legislature agree on the goals, but there's a big fight over the details. WFAE climate reporter David Boraks talks with host Marshall Terry.

The two companies that won a federal auction to build wind farms off North Carolina have finalized leases, just before the start of 10-year federal moratorium ordered by the Trump administration.

The Biden administration announced a partnership Thursday with a bipartisan group of East Coast governors, including North Carolina's Roy Cooper, to help meet state and federal goals for expanding offshore wind energy and fighting climate change.

Two companies — Duke Energy and a French company — have won leases for offshore wind farms off North Carolina with bids totaling $315 million.