World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

January 9, 2005 – Vol.9 No.42

WORLD WIND WATCH.

Job creation and renewable energy can be a perfect match. It’s a match that’s simple to understand.

The sources of renewable energy are free - sunlight, blowing wind, etc. But those sources of energy must be converted to energy that we can use - electricity, for example.

Energy conversion requires devices - wind turbines, solar cells - etc. Devices must be built by people and machines.

People are hired to make the devices.

There’s the simple match between renewable energy and jobs.

The manufacturing of wind turbine blades will create 236 permanent jobs in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania when a new production facility is opened by Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa. Later, when combined with job opportunities at two Philadelphia offices, Gamesa could be employing as many as 1000 in the state. The turbine blade production facility will be located in Edensburg in Cambria County.

With the plant and offices the company will have $40 million invested in its Pennsylvania operations. The state, too, has some investment in the new facility. The government has promised more than $9 million in grants, loans and tax breaks to Gamesa to bring them to the state.

Gamesa already has up to 600 megawatts capacity of turbine orders set for installation in Pennsylvania. And, orders are expected to rise further to at least a 1000 megawatts. The state’s clean energy portfolio standard requires that 18 percent of electricity generated comes from alternative energy sources by 2020; much of that could be wind energy. Estimates of at least 3600 megawatts of alternative energy sources would be needed to meet the law.

Because of shipping costs (related to their size) it makes economic sense to manufacture turbine blades near the sites where they will be installed on turbines. That was likely another reason Gamesa chose Pennsylvania.

The move to the U.S. has been helped by the sagging value of the dollar. Its lowered value against the Euro will help make turbine components manufactured in the U.S. less expensive than ones imported from the continent. Overall, this should help make Gamesa turbines even more competitive in the U.S. market. Visit Gamesa at http://www.gamesa.es/ .