The Navy said it has not approached the North Carolina General Assembly with concerns about the effects of the Amazon Wind Farm on a federal radar installation in Virginia, the Daily Advance of Elizabeth City reported.
Last week, 10 state lawmakers and a retired Marine major general sent a letter to President-elect Trump asking him to close the Amazon wind farm in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties, because of its proximity to the “relocatable over the horizon radar” facility. The letter referenced a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory which said that wind turbines within 28 miles of system can negatively affect it.
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The radar receiver is at the Northwest Annex in Chesapeake, Virginia, or about 30 miles from Elizabeth City.
A Navy public affairs officer said the Navy worked with the MIT lab, which determined that the wind farm had an acceptable number of turbines at an acceptable distance.
The officer said the Navy creates “mutually compatible scenarios” with wind farms to avoid electromagnetic interference to the radars, which provide surveillance capability for the command’s counter narco-terrorism mission.
The Navy approved plans for the developer to build 104 turbines in 2014 and the officer said the Navy has not expressed any concerns to the General Assembly about the wind farm.
