PrintPrintCompanies leading the charge for wind energy projects will lead the country’s economic development for years to come, according to some experts. Still unclear is when wind farms will become economically viable. But one company with a plant in the Upstate has already developed a major business line in wind turbine generators.
By Molly Parker
mparker@scbiznews.com
And James Hammond
jhammond@scbiznews.com
Published April 27, 2009
A U.K. wind energy expert recently told a group of Charleston maritime leaders that it’s not a matter of if, but when, for offshore wind farms in the United States.
Nick Longfield, managing director of Ocean Marine Services Ltd. of the United Kingdom, said that the companies leading the charge for wind projects will lead the country’s development for years to come.
Asked at what point wind farms become economically viable, outweighing the financial and social costs of foreign oil, Longfield said he could not say for sure.
“But the one thing we do know is this has got to happen and this is going to happen,” he said.
Longfield spoke at the April meeting of the Propeller Club. Clemson University’s Restoration Institute, along with the Propeller Club, helped bring Longfield here for a series of presentations on the logistics of developing offshore wind farms.
S.C. opportunity
When the U.S. market for General Electric’s giant gas turbine electric power generators collapsed a few years ago, GE Energy’s engineers quickly regrouped and developed a major business line in wind turbine generators.
Today, the company’s Greenville plant on Garlington Road is again humming with activity, building these 60-ton engines of renewable energy.
John Krenicki, vice chairman of GE and president and CEO of GE Energy Infrastructure, met recently with Greenville-area government officials and business leaders to update them on GE Energy’s Greenville operations.
He indicated that the future is bright for the company’s varied energy products, which include gas turbines, wind turbines and nuclear plants, so long as protectionist laws do not ignite a worldwide trade war that could cripple the Greenville operation’s ability to sell its products abroad.
Half the wind turbines in use in the United States today are made by GE, he said. And the company sees an equally positive outlook for the giant, new-technology windmills abroad.
“This is an export-oriented facility,” Krenicki said. “Our 1.5-megawatt engine is very competitive. We just shipped unit No. 10,000 last year. This is a winner. It is what is going to a lot of our U.S. customers.”
GE’s success could also translate into a boon for the Port of Charleston.
Amidst a sea of bad news, the S.C. State Ports Authority recently announced that the National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia has added Charleston to its East Coast ports rotation. The decision was driven in part by the port’s proximity to General Electric’s gas turbine manufacturing plant in Greenville.
GE Energy had almost $39 billion in revenue in 2008, up from about $25 billion in 2006, and one of its biggest customers is Saudi Arabia.
“One reason we’ve done so well in Saudi Arabia is because we’ve been there for 50 years. We never left,” Krenicki said.
Palmetto Wind
Clemson is a partner in Palmetto Wind, which is South Carolina’s pioneering offshore wind farm initiative off the coast of Georgetown.
Aside from the environmental benefits, Longfield said wind farms will spur economic development in coastal cities. The nature of those businesses will run the gamut, including divers and boat owners, ferry labor and materials offshore, and suppliers of safety equipment and tools.
“Many satellite companies will develop from an offshore wind farm project,” Longfield said. “And if you’re there at the start, you’ll not only benefit locally, but you will become the experts.”
Longfield has more than 35 years’ experience in the maritime and alternative energy industries. He became involved in Great Britain’s first offshore wind farms a decade ago, including the conducting of site surveys and development of techniques for environmental impact studies.
Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, director of business development at the Restoration Institute, said there’s little doubt that offshore wind power is coming to the United States.
Investment interest from Europe is a clear economic indicator that U.S offshore wind energy is inevitable, Colbert-Busch said.
By 2030, one-fifth of electricity generated nationwide is forecast to come from coastal or offshore wind farms, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates. S.C. utility Santee Cooper has committed to generating 40% of its power from non-greenhouse gas and biomass sources by 2020.
“We in the U.S. can benchmark the experiences of our European friends and apply our own expertise to boost the economy, create sustainable jobs and generate clean, renewable energy,” Colbert-Busch said.
A 48-turbine wind farm produces enough electricity for about 120,000 U.K. homes, Longfield said.
Wind farms are not without controversy, and some people find them unsightly, but Longfield brushed off the notion as a minor concern.
“The pluses they are giving you are far greater than what they look like,” Longfield said.
GE looks to renewable energy
The financial crisis is impacting GE Energy’s business, Krenicki said. He expects 2009 to be a down year for GE Energy products. The Greenville plant has diversified to meet the growing demand for renewable energy sources.
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GE Energy makes wind turbine generators at its Greenville plant. |
“This business in 2002 manufactured more than 300 gas turbines, the bulk of which were manufactured in Greenville, and 200 of which went to U.S. customers,” Krenicki said. “That business was more than $20 billion in 2002. That business collapsed on us.”
Last year, GE manufactured 116 gas turbines in Greenville.
“But we offset it with our wind business, renewables,” Krenicki said. “The Greenville team re-engineered the business, entered a new space.”
Although he expects 2009 to be a down year for GE Energy products, there’s still growth in the Middle East, China and India.
The demand for electricity worldwide is widely expected to double over the next 20 years, Krenicki said. But protectionist legislation, so-called “Buy American” laws, threaten to make other countries retaliate with similar facilities, he said, adding that such trade wars could threaten Greenville’s position as a powerful engine of export-driven growth.
“This is an export-driven facility,” he said. “There’s no better story than Greenville when it comes to exports.”
Reach Molly Parker at 843-849-3144.
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