The Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area (KHWEA) is taking another big step forward with the announcement from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) that they want public input for an Environmental Impact Statement. The agency will be taking public comments for the next 30 days.
There will be three online scoping meetings:
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
5:30 PM ETThursday, August 12, 2021
1:00 PM ETTuesday, August 17, 2021
5:30 PM ETFor more information on how to register, click here.
It’s long and confusing road from concept to final approval and actually generating energy, but the KHWEA project is moving forward right on schedule. If things continue on schedule, sometime in late 2023 or early 2024 work will begin on installing the first turbines.
The KHWEA is potentially the largest offshore energy project on the East Coast with a projected output of 2500 MW, enough energy to power 700,000 homes.
The area that Avengrid, the company that has been awarded the lease, can develop in 122405 acres or slightly more than 191 square miles.
Although called the Kitty Hawk WEA, it is actually due east of Corolla and at 27 miles from the coast, is far enough offshore that the turbine blades will be barely visible if they can be seen at all.
The direct impact on the Outer Banks will be minimal if there is any at all. The energy that will be produced will be transmitted to a substation in Virginia Beach. There is nothing on the Outer Banks that can handle an annual output of 2500 MW. Creating something that could handle that amount of power would include upgrading the existing infrastructure and building a substation, an undertaking that is considered prohibitively expensive even if the project could pass environmental reviews, which is doubtful.
The Outer Banks is a place of inspiring beauty, Come be inspired by the sand, the sea and the sun while staying in a Brindley Beach Vacations home.