Desert Wind Farm
With a total generating capacity of 208 megawatts (MW), it became the first large wind farm in the southeast United States when it came online at the end of 2016.[1][2] The project was developed starting in about 2006 by Atlantic Wind, a U.S. subsidiary of the Spanish company Iberdrola Renewables to occupy a region of coastal farmland locally known as "the desert" near the Albemarle Sound port of Elizabeth City.Initially planned for a total capacity of 300 MW, the contract with Amazon enabled financing of a first phase of construction to begin on over 22,000 acres in the summer of 2015.[4] The completed facility consists of 104 turbines and their foundations, underground collection lines, electrical substation, maintenance building, access roads, and accompanying stormwater system.[7][8] Criticism of the facility's performance and economics, and concerns regarding possible impacts of future similar projects, have persisted following the start of operations.