The Desert Wind Power Project would be on private agricultural land near Elizabeth City in Pasquotank and Perquimans Counties in north eastern North Carolina.
Iberdrola has been working on the project since 2009 and if it goes ahead construction could start in late 2011.
A study released in September listed North Carolina as a state with huge offshore potential. Offshore wind farms positioned around the densely populated East Coast could provide half the energy needed to power that region.
In August, utility Duke Energy withdrew plans for a three-turbine demonstration project in North Carolina's Pamlico Sound.
Duke Energy said the costs of the joint project with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) were no longer viable.
The company said it would instead work with the university to study the prospects for wind development offshore of North Carolina in the Atlantic Ocean.
