Posted: Tuesday, Oct. 06, 2009
Duke Energy and UNC Chapel Hill said today they have signed a contract to place one to three wind turbines in Pamlico Sound, possibly paving the way for utility-scale wind farms on the N.C. coast.
The demonstration project, reported in The Observer last month, may be the first wind turbines placed in water in the United States.
Duke will pay for the turbines and their installation, a cost spokesman Tim Pettit said will likely run into the tens of millions of dollars. UNC will do research on their performance, ecological impacts and other aspects.
The project will also help gauge community reaction to the large towers, which have met resistance in the N.C. mountains.
Duke has 634 megawatts of land-based wind power operating in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming.
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