North Carolina Offshore 90-Meter Wind Map and Wind Resource Potential

A map of North Carolina showing offshore wind speeds.

The North Carolina offshore 90-meter (m) height wind map and wind resource potential estimates are provided on this page. Areas with annual average wind speeds of 7 meters per second (m/s) and greater at 90-m height are generally considered to be suitable for offshore development.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has produced these estimates of the gross (not reduced by environmental or human use considerations) offshore wind potential expressed in "installed capacity." This is the potential megawatts (MW) of rated capacity that could be installed at offshore areas with mean annual wind speeds of 7 m/s and greater at a 90-m height, assuming 5 MW of installed capacity per square kilometer of water. The offshore wind potential tables present the resource broken down by annual wind speed, water depth, and distance from shore.