Wind power developer Invenergy Wind announced today that GE (NYSE: GE) will supply 74 of its 1.5-megawatt (MW) wind turbines to begin the 110 MW expansion of a wind farm in LaSalle County, Ill.
The release offered no timeline or finanical details for the expansion project at the Grand Ridge Energy Center. However, project development news from the U.S. wind sector has been all but non-existent over the last two months. So the release could be a positive indication that project financing is returning to the industy, which ground to a halt with the economic downturn.
The companies said they expect to take advantage of the tax provisions in the federal stimulus package passed in February. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides a three-year Production Tax Credit (PTC) extension for wind power developers, as well as an option to elect a 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) in place of the PTC, a temporary program that includes an option to convert the ITC into a Treasury grant and a new DOE loan guarantee program.
“The availability of stimulus funds paves the way for a new wave of growth for the American wind industry,” said John Krenicki, president and CEO of GE Energy, the largest U.S. wind turbine supplier. “We encourage others in the wind industry to follow Invenergy’s example and move forward with their plans to develop new wind farms to help meet the nation’s demand for cleaner energy.”
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) calls the U.S. wind industry “an economic and job creation dynamo,” and reports that 85,000 people were employed in the industry at the end of 2008, an increase of 35,000 from the previous year. These jobs span all aspects of the industry including turbine component manufacturing, transportation, construction and installation of new wind turbines, operations and maintenance, and legal and marketing services.
Michael Polsky, president and CEO of Invenergy, said: "Enacting a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) is the single most important step that Congress can take to lay the long-term foundation for a ‘green-collar’ workforce and a domestic renewable energy-manufacturing base. With this level of commitment from the government, and with the support of the energy industry and the American public, our country is positioned to tackle and solve our energy and environmental challenges, even in these difficult economic times.”
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