President Barack Obama on Friday announced the award of $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States.
The White House says 183 projects in 43 states will create tens of thousands of high quality clean energy jobs and domestic manufacturing of advanced clean energy technologies including solar, wind and efficiency and energy management technologies.
“Building a robust clean energy sector is how we will create the jobs of the future,” said President Obama. “The Recovery Act awards I am announcing today will help close the clean energy gap that has grown between America and other nations while creating good jobs, reducing our carbon emissions and increasing our energy security.”
The investment tax credits, worth up to 30% of each planned project, will also leverage private capital for a total investment of nearly $7.7 billion in high-tech manufacturing in the US.
The projects were competitively selected and the companies chosen say they will create more than 17,000 jobs.
The tax credits include numerous clean energy technologies and companies, including:
Smart Grid – Itron, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ITRI) OpenWay CENTRON meter is one of the first smart meters for the residential market providing built-in, two-way communications and a remote on/off switch which will give customers more choice and enable utilities to provide higher reliability at lower cost.
The expansion of manufacturing capacity in their facility in South Carolina will allow an annual production of four million meters. Itron estimates that one year’s production of the meters will be able to reduce electricity use by approximately 1.7 million MWh per year.
Building Efficiency and Energy Management – W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. is producing an advanced membrane for high efficiency fuel cells for buildings and vehicles. The company’s products can help enable lower-cost fuel cells for use in electric vehicles or to power homes and businesses. They are also manufacturing an advanced turbine filter to improve the performance of gas turbines to produce greater outputs at lower cost and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Solar Energy – PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE: PPG) will produce a double anti-reflective coating for glass to make solar cells more efficient. At their Louisiana facility, PPG also will produce a special tire tread component that reduces rolling resistance and improves fuel economy of vehicles.
Wind Energy – TPI Composites, Inc. is building a new manufacturing facility in Nebraska to produce next generation wind turbine blades. TPI says the facility will create over 200 new jobs and will have a capacity equivalent to supplying 265 turbines rated at 2.5 MW for a total electrical output of 663 MW TPI will also be expanding their existing manufacturing facility in Iowa to meet the anticipated increased demand for composite wind turbine blades. TPI’s composite materials made in both facilities are used to make lighter and stronger wind turbine blades and lighter and stronger (and more fuel efficient) vehicles.
While projects selected for this tax credit generally must be placed in service by 2014, approximately 30% of them will be completed in 2010, the White House says.
As part of an innovative partnership between the Departments of Treasury and Energy, the two cabinet agencies worked together to develop, launch, and award the funds for this program. The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit authorized Treasury to provide developers with an investment tax credit of 30% for facilities that manufacture particular types of energy equipment.
Qualifying manufacturers will produce solar, wind, and geothermal energy equipment; fuel cells, microturbines, and batteries; electric cars; electric grids to support the transmission of renewable energy; energy conservation technologies; and equipment that captures and sequesters carbon dioxide or reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
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