The idea of a wind farm off the shores of the Outer Banks makes some folks cheer and others jeer. Either way, people are looking for answers. The North Beach Sun‘s Kip Tabb attended a recent public hearing on the Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk and we found a lot of good information about what could be in the cards in this article.
“If the original assessment of the Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area (WEA) by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) had not been changed the field would have been the largest on the East Coast and one of the largest in the world. When the final assessment was published in January, concerns about shipping lanes and visual impacts had reduced the area from over 1900 square miles to 191 square miles.
Even at its reduced size the Kitty Hawk WEA, perched 24 nautical miles offshore, is potentially one of the most viable wind resources anywhere. “It would be right up there with the largest in the world,” Brian Trevor BOEM Environmental Protection Specialist said.
Determining what areas are suitable for commercial development of wind energy is confusing and time-consuming. The environmental assessment that was just issued is an important step in that process, identifying which areas will be available for commercial interests to develop. It is an assessment only; it does not give anyone permission to develop sites—it only identifies areas that may be suitable for leasing that may eventually produce utility grade power.”
[box type=”bio”] Read the rest of this riveting story over at the North Beach Sun.[/box]