London and the region’s manufacturing future may lie in the wind.
The energy industry needs wind turbine manufacturers and the area’s troubled manufacturing sector, with under-used plants and skilled, but under-employed workers, should consider making the massive wind turbines that are popping up across Southern Ontario, says Great Lakes Wind Network director Ed Weston .
“This is a chance to tap into a hot market,” he said. “Wind development is a hot topic right now and this is the manufacturing centre of North America. This is the place to get manufacturing done.”
Southern Ontario is blessed with “big winds” off the Great Lakes making it a natural place for wind farms that are growing by Lake Huron and Lake Erie, and manufacturing the turbines is a natural extension of that, he added.
Governments across North America are mandating more energy be taken from alternate sources, driving unprecedented demand in the turbine industry. Yesterday, near Port Alma, east of Wheatley in Chatham- Kent, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty helped open a 44-turbine wind farm on the shore of Lake Erie.
The Kruger Energy Port Alma Wind Power Project will produce enough clean electricity for 30,000 households.
In 2007, 4,000 turbines were installed in the U.S. and Canada, but just more than 40 per cent of those were made in North America, with a bulk made in Europe. Industry projections state the industry will grow 30 per cent, per year, over the next five years.
There are now about nine manufacturers making turbines, but only one is in Canada, in Quebec.
The waiting list for turbines is two years and while forecasts suggest 10 more manufacturers will soon begin production, there will be room for local producers that can manufacture at a lower cost, as shipping the massive blades and motors is very costly.
“The most cost effective way to put up wind turbines is to have a local supply chain. If you do that, you have an advantage,” he said.
In the U.S. it’s been mandated that 20 per cent of its energy be from alternative sources by 2030. Of all the alternative energy offered, wind is the least costly, about seven cents per kilowatt, comparable to coal.
“Wind is the most commercially viable alternative energy out there,” Weston said. “What manufacturers in this area need are skills in machining and fabrication and that exists here.”
Denmark is the world leader in wind turbine use, with 20 per cent of its energy coming from wind and Spain is second with 12 per cent. Canada and the U.S. both get about one per cent of its energy from wind.