March 11, 2010 9:32 AM PST
by Candace Lombardi
Nevada is about to become home to one very large wind turbine plant.
A-Power Energy, U.S. Renewable Energy Group, and American Nevada Group announced Thursday a joint project to build a mega-factory in Nevada for producing wind turbines.
The factory will produce and assemble advanced wind energy turbines for supplying wind projects in North and South America, producing an estimated 1,110-megawatts worth of turbines per year.
The 320,000-square-foot facility when completed will ultimately employ over 1,000 people, in addition to the temporary jobs its development and construction will immediately create.
Apparently, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was instrumental in convincing the China-based wind turbine producer A-Power to put a plant in his home state.
"Senate Majority Leader Reid's vision for the development of clean energy industries in his home state, Nevada's position relative to the major wind corridors, and the strength and sophistication of Nevada's skilled workforce made Nevada the best option for our headquarters and assembly plant for North and South America," Jinxiang Lu, CEO and chairman of A-Power, said in a statement.
The project's leading investor, U.S. Renewable Energy, also credited Reid's lobbying efforts for landing the project in Nevada.
"He told us that Nevada was poised to be at the epicenter of America's commitment to renewable energy technology. With a strong commitment to renewable energy and business-friendly climate, we felt that Nevada would be the ideal place to invest in this manufacturing hub," Ed Cunningham, managing partner at U.S. Renewable Energy, said in a statement.
It's certainly clear why Sen. Reid proposed a bill to reform oversight of electric transmission lines across the U.S. in February 2009. In addition to providing a solution to an obvious logjam in deploying renewable energy across the country, such a law would clearly help his own home state as it becomes more and more invested in the renewable-energy industry.
An exact location for the facility within Nevada has not yet been chosen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment