Governor Roy Cooper Allocates $80 Million to Build Offshore Wind Marine Fabrication Port in Morehead City

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. — Governor Roy Cooper announced on Monday the distribution of $80 million in state capital infrastructure grants through the North Carolina State Ports Authority to engineer and construct a dedicated heavy-load marine fabrication and staging terminal at the Port of Morehead City in Carteret County.

The maritime terminal, encompassing a 75-acre industrial footprint, is engineered specifically to support the manufacturing, assembly, and ocean deployment of heavy steel monopiles, subsea transition pieces, and nacelles for commercial offshore wind lease areas off the North Carolina and Mid-Atlantic coastlines.

Securing the Mid-Atlantic Clean Energy Supply Chain North Carolina possesses over 8 gigawatts of offshore wind development potential in federal lease areas off the Outer Banks and Wilmington, representing over $140 billion in projected supply chain capital investments across the Atlantic seaboard.

"North Carolina is leading the transition to a clean energy economy, and our deepwater ports give us a massive competitive advantage in capturing the offshore wind supply chain," Governor Cooper said at the Port of Morehead City. "By investing $80 million to build this heavy-load marine terminal, we are creating over 1,200 good-paying manufacturing and maritime jobs, anchoring clean energy component manufacturing in eastern North Carolina, and powering hundreds of thousands of homes with clean ocean wind."

Terminal Infrastructure Upgrades The $80 million project package funds:

• Heavy-Lift Quayside Wharf: Constructing a 900-foot reinforced concrete bulkhead capable of bearing 6,000 pounds per square foot for specialized turbine installation vessels.
• Deepwater Channel Dredging: Maintaining 45-foot authorized draft access from the Atlantic ocean shipping channel.
• Carteret Community College Marine Trades Academy: $10 million for workforce training in robotic subsea welding, marine rigging, and non-destructive testing.

Port authority commissioners, commercial shipping leaders, and building trades labor unions commended the state investment, highlighting that deepwater marine infrastructure makes North Carolina the primary supply chain hub for Mid-Atlantic offshore wind.