NORFOLK, Va. - North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper met with Dominion Energy in Hampton Roads on Thursday to discuss the future of offshore wind.
Governor Cooper says North Carolina is on track to be carbon zero by 2050, but that goal is not possible without offshore wind.
"There's really not a better spot than off the coast of VA and NC," said the governor. "We have a lot of wind, we know that the energy created by offshore wind is significant."
In July 2021, North Carolina launched the Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind Project. The project proposes up to 69 wind turbine generators 27 miles off the beaches of Corolla, with cables that will connect to Sandbridge Beach.
"We also know we need to fight climate change but at the same time, we can be putting money in everyday people's pockets," explained Governor Cooper.
The governor says that money will come from the creation of a new supply chain, and therefore, new jobs.
"There are opportunities for Virginia and North Carolina to join a supply chain that's going to be enormous for this industry that's developing in the United States for the first time," said Robert Blue, CEO of Dominion Energy.
Dominion Energy says the first factory in the United States to create the blades that power wind turbines is being built right here in Hampton Roads.
Therefore, even turbines placed in North Carolina's water will benefit not only their economy but Virginia's as well.
