CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Duke Energy says it costs too much to build wind turbines as an experiment along the North Carolina coast and now plans to work on larger such projects instead.
The Charlotte utility said Thursday it was pulling out of the effort to build up to three turbines in the Pamlico Sound with researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The project was designed to evaluate the potential for creating coastal wind energy.
Duke senior vice president Paul Newton told The Charlotte Observer the estimate to build all three turbines would total $145 million.
Newton says costs exceed the benefits company customers would have received if it were to continue. Shallow-water construction and underwater vegetation also made the effort difficult.
