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Many companies in area already have the supplies for turbines, official says
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Monday, Jun 08, 2009
Does your company have anything to do with gears, bearings, brackets and couplings? Lubricating oil, epoxies or coatings? Generators, electronic parts, hydraulic pumps? Rebar and concrete? Casting, fabricating, machining?
If so, the Ohio wind industry may need you.
With everything from government legislation to public sentiment driving the demand for alternative energy, traditional Northeast Ohio businesses have a great opportunity to diversify into this rapidly growing field, said Matt Garran, technical services director for the Great Lakes Wind Network.
The network — based in Cleveland and serving members in five states — has been speaking to groups throughout the region, hoping to get more companies to see their hidden potential.
At a recent meeting of the Canton chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Garran methodically dissected a wind turbine while explaining the technology to more than 100 attendees.
Wind turbines are categorized as small (an output of 100 kilowatts or less for a single household), community grade (generally aimed at a specific facility, with a system for selling excess energy to a distribution grid) or utility grade (1 megawatt or larger and tied into a utility company's grid).
The largest wind turbines can have blades that are 200 feet long, a real challenge for manufacturers and transporters.
''Think about moving a 200-foot-long delicate blade through the city,'' Garran said. ''This is one of the reasons wind turbine manufacturers come here. They look to locate near rivers, lakes, navigable waters. The less time they have to spend on the road . . . the better off they are.''
Garran shared pictures of one wind turbine that weighs 340,000 pounds and reaches 200 feet into the air.
''This is one of the things that drives the robustness and the quality standards and the tolerances associated with these parts because once it's up there, it costs way too much to bring a crane in to do service work on it,'' he said.
Another picture showed a foundation for a utility-grade turbine — 30 truckloads of concrete.
''The expected life of a utility or community turbine exceeds 20 years,'' Garran said. ''There is planned maintenance in them, but not a lot. Everything has to be right.''
Garran said the nation's interest in wind rises and falls with gas prices.
During the energy crisis of the early 1970s, NASA was charged with developing advanced wind energy. Some of that work took place in Northeast Ohio and led to a wind turbine in Hawaii becoming the world's first 3.2-megawatt unit tied into a utility grid.
''Then energy prices went down and we walked away from it,'' Garran said. It would be nearly 30 years before another wind turbine of that size would be connected to a grid, he said.
The world's wind energy center is in Denmark, Garran said, because after the United States lost interest, the Danes remained attentive to NASA's work. The majority of wind turbines installed in North America today were imported.
''We were at least even with if not at the cutting edge of this industry at that point in time. We walked away from it and they continued to come and learn from our research,'' Garran said.
Volatile gas prices have reminded us yet again of our dependency on foreign oil and fossil fuels, Garran said.
But as we turn to alternatives like wind, do we want to be dependent on foreign companies for the equipment?
''We can either do it here, ourselves, and become engaged in this industry, or we can allow the others to import everything that is installed here,'' Garran said. ''Hopefully, that won't be the case.''
Garran said there are other things driving development of the wind industry today.
Federal and state policies are mandating utility companies look for alternative sources of energy. Last year, Ohio passed an energy bill that requires 25 percent of energy consumed in Ohio come from alternative energy sources by 2025.
Garran estimates that about 120,000 turbines are needed in the country to meet federal standards by 2030.
''That's a lot of jobs. That's a lot of opportunities. That's a lot of work,'' he said.
And it's not just good for the environment and economic development, Garran said. It makes business sense, too.
Any business owner ''knows one of your variable costs is your energy. What advantage would you have to know what your energy is going to cost you next year? It's quite an advantage economically from a business perspective,'' he said.
So with utility companies like Akron-based FirstEnergy needing to meet new requirements, there are efforts to put a pilot wind turbine farm in Lake Erie and up to 500 of the monoliths along western Ohio's landscape, Garran said.
Meanwhile, federal and state tax credits are making such projects more feasible. Garran said that a utility-scale wind turbine successfully tied into the grid ends up costing the same or less than traditionally generated electricity.
And while an installed wind turbine costs about $1.6 million to $2 million per megawatt, ''keep in mind that once it's up, there is no energy cost, no fuel cost associated with this,'' Garran said.
Another driver of industry growth is the public, with widespread public support for better energy choices, he said.
''People want us to do what's right,'' he said.
Garran said the wind industry isn't for every manufacturer.
''And to be honest, it's not for most,'' he said.
But representatives from the Great Lakes Wind Network will meet with companies to determine their potential to enter the market before making an investment.
Tim Seifert, chairman-elect of the Canton chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, said his group hosted Garran because members want to stay informed about business trends.
And wind, he said, may prove to be a new direction for some of their companies.
''As they build these wind energy systems, these are the companies that could make them. They make components, they have welding capabilities, casting capabilities, machining capabilities,'' Seifert said. ''Somebody has to build the parts. Companies like these.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Does your company have anything to do with gears, bearings, brackets and couplings? Lubricating oil, epoxies or coatings? Generators, electronic parts, hydraulic pumps? Rebar and concrete? Casting, fabricating, machining?
Get the full article here.
Comments
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somewhere near you, OH
Posted 07:28 PM, 06/08/2009
The components can and will be sourced from the lowest cost location, IE CHINA and eastern Europe.
Ohio will only see a minor temporary blip of jobs producing the pieces/parts for these things.
Get used to it Ohio, you and Michigan are at the forefront of America's decline into a 2nd rate, has been, country.
