The Pitch for Wind

It seems like a ton of people from Michigan are in Chicago this week for the American Wind Energy Association’s conference. Here’s a video overview (don’t worry, it isn’t all Blues Traveler):

Governor Granholm and Michigan Economic Development Corp. CEO Greg Main are there pitching the state’s attractive incentives, workforce and manufacturing expertise. Michigan ranked second in AWEA’s list of fastest growing states for wind power capacity behind Indiana.

Granholm told the conference during a panel discussion of Midwest governors that the state needs the jobs associated with alternative energy to help move it from the “the rust belt to the green belt.”

The Right Place Inc. CEO Birgit Klohs is touting the region’s manufacturing capabilities to worldwide wind manufacturers.

Word has it that executives from Rockford Bergé are there, too. The group is a joint venture among Rockford Construction, Bergé Logistica Energetica and the MAPA Group to be a “one-stop source for wind farm construction and comprehensive logistical services.”

Here’s some more from Granholm’s press release:

“With an industrial base that has the capacity to support as many as 24,000 wind-energy jobs, we are actively assisting auto suppliers to diversify into wind-component manufacturing,” Main said.  “We offer innovative incentives for wind-energy investment and job-training grants and have ten Renaissance Zones available to support wind energy businesses.  Other measures to broaden our wind-industry base include fostering entrepreneurship by supporting commercialization of university research and making venture capital more readily available.”

In recent weeks, two major wind-energy projects were announced in Michigan.  Global Wind Systems has started construction on a $32-million wind turbine assembly plant in Novi, and Great Lakes Towers will build a $19-million factory in Monroe County to produce giant towers for commercial-scale wind turbines.

More than two dozen companies have started or diversified into wind parts manufacturing.  Others are specializing in systems to deliver affordable wind power.  In Manistee, Mariah Power of Nevada and Michigan-based MasTech are jointly producing wind-power systems for residential and business use.  Cascade Engineering in Grand Rapids is partnering with a company in Edinburgh, Scotland, to make rooftop turbines.

The governor’s efforts to grow the wind industry in Michigan are part of her broad strategy to use Michigan’s plentiful natural resources, skilled and versatile workforce, and top-notch universities to make the state North America’s leader in all types of renewable energy and the world’s advanced-battery capital.

Granholm has taken other aggressive steps to maximize Michigan’s ability to generate clean electricity from wind and to create manufacturing, engineering, construction and other types of jobs from the wind industry.  Among other efforts, she:

•  appointed a Great lakes Wind Council to examine offshore wind energy and develop guidelines for its use in Michigan;

•  signed sweeping bipartisan legislation last year, including a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) mandating that 10 percent of the state’s energy come from renewable sources by 2015;

•  established a goal that by 2020, Michigan will reduce fossil fuel dependency for generating electricity by 45 percent, to be accomplished through increased renewable energy, gains in energy efficiency, and other new technologies.