North Carolina enters into agreement with Denmark to boost wind power energy off coast

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- North Carolina entered an international agreement to advance the development of wind farms off the coast.

North Carolina Secretary of Commerce Machelle Baker Sanders and Director General Kristoffer Bottzauw of the Danish Energy Agency signed the agreement earlier this morning.

The Cooperation on Offshore Wind Energy and Related Sectors agreement, will greatly enhance North Carolina's ability to develop offshore wind energy, according to the secretary of commerce.

"The knowledge, data and best practices accumulated by the Danish Energy Agency's more than 30 years of offshore wind energy experience provides countless benefits to our state as we open opportunities with this growing industry," said Secretary Sanders.

Leaders believe the state is positioned to attract a large share of the clean-energy investment and support tens-of-thousands of jobs, according to a report released by the N.C. Department of Commerce in 2021.

Governor Cooper's Executive Order 218 established NC's offshore wind development goals of 2.8 gigawatts by 2030 and 8 gigawatts by 2040. Eight gigawatts is enough to power more than 2.3 million homes across the state.

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