A wind farm that is scheduled to be built off North Carolina’s Outer Banks is projected to create nearly 200 full-time jobs in Virginia and North Carolina.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Tuesday that the projection comes from an economic study by alternative energy developer Avangrid Renewables.
The firm calculated that the project would add $2 billion to the region’s economy over the next decade.
The Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind Project will be built roughly 27 miles off Corolla. Construction is set to begin in 2024. The projected is expected to be completed in 2030.
However, a buyer is still needed.
“The options are limitless,” Katharine Kollins, president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, which advocates for the expansion of wind energy, told the Triangle Business Journal.
“I think the timing on when they’re actually able to develop that project and start construction will very much depend on a buyer,” she said.
Building the windfarm is expected to create 800 jobs. And it will produce 193 full-time jobs in Virginia and North Carolina once it’s running. Those jobs will including turbine generator technicians and welders. Support companies and services could add hundreds more positions.
The study was part of a construction and operation plan submitted Friday to the Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management.
The economic data was collected from several sources. They include Avangrid Renewables, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and economic impact studies of other offshore wind developments.
