USA: North Myrtle Beach Plans to Use Offshore Wind Power

North Myrtle Beach in South Carolina is working on a program to develop offshore wind power, with 12 wind turbines along its coastline and a plan to set more of them out in the sea.

These turbines are the first step of an ambitious plan to turn the city into a demonstration site for coastal wind technology and to use its advantages later on.

After this, offshore wind power will be presented to the residents, as a better option for a place where tourists come. The city already has a substation which can cope with 332MW of offshore power without any upgrades.

Monroe Baldwin, chairman of the local chamber of commerce’s economic development council, told Loren Steffy, the Huston Chronicle’s business columnist: “If you can get used to that at your beach boardwalk, you can handle a turbine 10 miles out.” 

[mappress]

Offshore WIND staff, October 15, 2012; Image: Alpha Ventus