NORTH MYRTLE BEACH -- On Monday, April 5th, NMB City Council unanimously passed the municipal code that allows wind turbines to be erected in North Myrtle Beach. This code will allow prototype turbines to be tested along the ocean front, as well as allow for residential wind turbines.
“This is key in the wind energy movement of South Carolina,” stated Monroe Baldwin, Chairman of the Economic Development Council for North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and a founding member of the North Strand Coastal Wind Team (NSCWT).
He continued, “New turbine innovation will happen the quickest in small turbine development. This technology innovation will be of great value to the overall industrial efforts to make larger and more efficient offshore turbines.”
The North Strand Coastal Wind Team extended invitations to three companies to bring turbines for testing. The North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, Coastal Carolina University, The Savannah River National Laboratory, the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Authority and the SC Energy Office form the North Strand Coastal Wind Team, a collaborative partnership to promote wind as an alternate energy source.
An example of the small wind turbine to be installed on top of the Avista Resort is now is display at North Myrtle Beach City Hall.
“The efforts of the North Strand Coastal Wind Team have already attracted a lot of attention from players in the field, even from those as distant as Arizona,” stated Marc Jordan, President/CEO of the Chamber. “We have a tremendous opportunity to create a cottage industry of small, local manufactures, diversifying our economy as a green, sustainable community.”
The wind energy initiative began with the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Council in Fall 2009. The project began with anemometers being placed on top of the Avista Resort to test the feasibility of wind power. The results concluded North Myrtle Beach is an ideal location to produce wind energy. In the Fall of 2009, the NSCWT submitted a grant application to the South Carolina Energy Office for beach access wind energy generation and electric vehicle recharging stations.
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