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Kitty Hawk Wind will help achieve North Carolina’s target of 2,800 MW of offshore wind energy by 2030 and 8,000 MW by 2040—while bringing manufacturing and jump-starting a new U.S. industry in the Mid-Atlantic.
The Wright Brothers’ historic First Flight in 1903 is an example of daring ingenuity that catalyzed the State of North Carolina’s reputation as a beacon of innovation and progress. In this spirit of bold innovation, Kitty Hawk Wind will build on this tradition by pioneering North Carolina’s clean energy transition offshore to generate affordable, local renewable energy, reduce emissions, and protect our environment—while driving transformational investment and robust supply chain opportunity in the region.
The project will position the Mid-Atlantic as a hub for the U.S. offshore wind industry by generating $2 billion in economic impact in the next decade. North Carolina has the most manufacturing-intensive economy on the east coast, and Kitty Hawk Wind will lay the groundwork for a new domestic industry in the region that builds upon the Tar Heel State’s manufacturing prowess while creating jobs for years to come.
Kitty Hawk Wind will be located more than 27 miles from the Outer Banks in a lease area named “Kitty Hawk” by the federal government. While Kitty Hawk Wind is designed to deliver clean, reliable electricity to Virginia’s robust electrical grid, route planning and constraints analysis is ongoing to identify potential alternative landfall locations for Kitty Hawk South, which is anticipated to come ashore in Virginia or North Carolina. Avangrid projects Kitty Hawk Wind will deliver approximately 3,500 megawatts (MW) of clean electricity generation, enough to power roughly 1 million homes.
Avangrid is committed to working collaboratively with local communities and involving stakeholders, including the public, throughout the permitting, construction, and operations phases of the project. Additionally, the project is subject to a multi-year state and federal permitting process with multiple opportunities for public comment, including a full Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to ensure the project is developed responsibly.
Kitty Hawk South Frequently Asked Questions
The project will rarely be visible from land as the lease area is located more than 27 miles from the Outer Banks in North Carolina. On the clearest of days the turbines will be marginally visible from some locations along the Outer Banks if the viewer knows where to look for them or uses binoculars. The turbines are unlikely to be noticed by casual observers.
The project team has conducted due diligence assessments of over 30 potential landfall locations in North Carolina as part of its comprehensive evaluation of onshore and offshore cable route alternatives to minimize impacts to the environment and communities. However, a point of interconnection into Virginia Beach was identified as the optimal location because Virginia’s electrical grid is more robust, ultimately requiring fewer upgrades. Additionally, an onshore route in North Carolina would extend hundreds of miles to reach a point of interconnection.
Criteria for potential landfall locations include:
- Identification of previously disturbed areas such as parking lots and roadways
- Avoidance of environmental constraints such as wetlands and rare species
- Proximity to load centers for interconnection to the existing electrical grid
- Site visits, ownership identification, and preliminary engineering review
- Stakeholder input to fully understand potential impacts to each location
No. By using Horizontal Directional Drill methods, cable conduit installation begins from the parking lot and tunnels underneath the beach to a point approximately 1000 feet offshore. This eliminates disturbance to the beach or the nearshore area. Deep and permanent burial also ensures the cables pose virtually no risk of exposure from beach erosion.
No. There are no electric fields from underground cables, and magnetic fields are very low at ground level, posing no health risk. Due to the fact that the cables are buried, the magnetic field or “MF” at ground level is very low - a small fraction of what occurs from overhead power lines, and a small fraction of the earth’s natural magnetic field. Magnetic fields are different from radio fields or “RF” given off by cell phones, microwaves, etc. Levels of magnetic fields are comparable to those emitted from typical household appliances such as hair dryers or refrigerators.
The counties in which the cables would make landfall, be encased in duct banks, and/or have a substation or convertor station will receive property tax payments from the project. Jobs will be brought to the areas from construction, to demand for boat captains and for new companies that may come to the area based on renewable energy.
Kitty Hawk Wind’s permit applications include in depth site analysis and are extensively reviewed by dozens of agencies at all levels of government, including the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Division of Coastal Management, North Carolina Utilities Commission, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and others.
By targeting previously disturbed areas, Kitty Hawk Wind aims to avoid environmental impacts where possible. In addition, the project will be permitted by the NC DEQ which will ensure protection measures are in place such as erosion and sedimentation controls plans and stormwater management plans. Additionally, state and federal agencies will review the project to ensure work in wetlands and near watercourses is minimized to the extent possible.
The cables are heavily insulated and duct banks are securely encased within concrete and buried beneath pavement. Both are specifically designed to operate in wet conditions. They remain safe and operable during periods of storm flooding. In the unlikely event that infrastructure is exposed or damaged, Kitty Hawk Wind is responsible for repair.
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