NMB exploring wind powered future (Update: pictures of 2nd Ave turbine, info)

Update 2/21/2012 4:12 p.m.: The newest turbine is up and turning in North Myrtle Beach.

Crews worked to calibrate the 2.5 kilowatt wind turbine while representatives talked with the press and locals. North Myrtle Beach lawyer and Chamber of Commerce representative, Norton Geddie, who worked on the contracts for the 2nd Avenue turbine, says it won't directly power City Park's facilities but should send enough energy back to the grid to offset the power consumption.

For now, the turbines being placed around North Myrtle Beach are for education purposes, from high school to college to community.  But the goal is to do enough research in hopes to run a ten mile cable out to the ocean and have massive wind turbines out there producing energy.  The ocean turbines would look about three inches tall from the shore. 

Read below to find out more about the project and to get information on tomorrow's (February 22) event on Russell Burgess Coastal Preserve in North Myrtle Beach, where they will flip on the third wind turbine. 


Update 2/21/2012 1:20 p.m.: Change of plans, folks. City of North Myrtle Beach Public Information Officer Pat Dowling, has issued the following statement.

Despite the best laid plans of mice and men, the City’s Planning Department has informed us that the wind turbine tilt-up scheduled for today at 3:00 p.m. on the oceanfront at 1st Avenue South will be a non-event. The turbine is already up. The 3:00 p.m. time frame originally scheduled for the tilt-up will be used instead to train staff in wind turbine operation. The public may attend.

The wind turbine tilt-up scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on February 22 at Russell Burgess Coastal Preserve (3613 Duffy Street) will actually occur at some point in the morning and it is estimated that the new turbine will be up by around 11:00 a.m., if not before. The originally scheduled time frame of 3:00 p.m. will be used for training.


Update 2/21/2012: North Myrtle Beach is making progress and will be installing two new turbines this week.

The installation of the Skystream 3.7 turbines is being overseen by The North Strand Coastal Wind Team. The first tilt-up is today at 3 p.m. on 1st Ave South in North Myrtle Beach. The next tilt-up will be tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the Russell Burgess Coastal Preserve on 3613 Duffy Street in North Myrtle Beach.

"The installation of these turbines will allow us to better understand the capabilities of our onshore and offshore wind resources," stated Monroe Baldwin, founding member of the NSCWT. "They will also create public awareness and introduce these ideas to residents and commercial business owners."

"We are on the forefront for wind energy generation for the state," continued Baldwin. "Data collected from these new turbines will be gathered by Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College to go into the state renewable energy dash board which will become a part of the statewide K-16 science curriculum." This is the third turbine install in North Myrtle Beach and the culmination of a SC Energy Grant project awarded to the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce. Upon final up fit of the turbines, they will transfer over to the City of North Myrtle Beach.


First Report: Last year the City of North Myrtle Beach installed the state's first wind turbine to produce green energy and now they are two more.

The wind turbines are relatively small and don't take up much space.  They aren't designed to run a home but they will produce enough power for the Oceanfront Park restrooms at 1st Avenue South and the Burgess Coastal Reserve in Cherry Grove.

Federal grant money is to thank for this green experiment, which officials think will make North Myrtle Beach the leader in green energy in the area and bring in industry and jobs. Hop on over to WMBFnews.com for the full write-up and video broadcast

Want more green-related Myrtle Beach stories? Then head over to our Green Topic page

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