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Wind: Ohio Plan, Awareness Plan, Economic Growth Plan

Turn the Northeast Ohio Region into the Wind Turbine Capital of the United States. Assess, via a wind study, our regions manufacturing capabilities to use as a tool to attract additional wind turbine manufacturing business. Set-up communication and financing campaigns, which will include grass roots marketing, citizen financing, and analysis at the state level of legislation, tax credits and incentives for bringing wind friendly businesses to Ohio. Seek means of preferred financing for wind turbine growth.

Wind Energy Ohio Plan

An Opportunity in Offshore Wind Energy

  • 1st ever windmill built in Cleveland; and multi-Megawatt turbine created in Cleveland
  • New Job Opportunities – expanding existing job opportunities
  • Create wind farm in Lake Erie (6 wind turbines could power 600,000 homes)
  • 25% growth rate in wind energy worldwide (US 45% increase in wind energy) – 95% of all renewable energy is wind
  • Developing the first commercial floating wind turbine for deep water

Current State of Wind Energy in North America

  • Clean energy, free energy, only costs are capital to buy equipment
  • Water conservation – traditional energy uses water cooling, wind does not
  • Creates jobs
  • No legislation in Ohio for a renewable energy portfolio – need to create one

Corporate Sustainability Network

  • Getting corporations to adopt sustainability practices
  • Case Western and Cleveland created a Great Lakes Energy Task Force – looking at barriers to wind energy implementation

Wind turbine production backlog – production cannot meet the demand

  • Ohio ranked the #2 state to provide more manufacturing plants in this industry

Great Lakes Institute for Energy Innovation (CWRU)

  • Cuyahoga Valley – the next Silicon Valley (the wind?)
  • We have the labor force to perform manufacturing energy
  • Case’s role: use students and faculty

Vision for Cleveland as a Hub for Wind Energy

  • Transition: Companies need to update facilities,
  • Need private capital investment
  • Need to update the government situation; tell policymakers the public wants a wind turbine
  • Scaling down turbines? Less capital required to start investment (kW not MW turbines)

Operations

  • Need constant flow of skilled force; need to attract people to work in the factory
  • Revamp the image of the factories, as a great place to work

Marketing

  • People from Cleveland Plus, etc.; romanticize
  • Citizens have ownership of companies
  • Paying for it: Stakeholder interests, tax incentives, also need federal and state legislation

Study European models and apply lessons here

Wind Awareness

Larry Viterna--NASA David Rosenberg--GE CWRU is working on researching how to store wind energy through a donation from the Cleveland foundation Corporate Sustainable Network Leadership Cleveland Great Lakes Wind Network Great Lakes Institute of Energy Innovation—CWRU

HUB of Wind Energy

  • Work through roadblocks, what can you do as an individual, educate persons and org., message to organized labor, work with the manufacturers, a lot of challenges, deploy commercial technology, go offshore for wind energy for OH, states that have advanced energy projects and policies, call house of representatives, begin lobbyists, reach out to Columbus officials, our future depends on this inniative, need power consumers to discuss issues, day to day objectives
  • public outcry of needs, writing letters, reach out directly, contact the younger generation, buy into the wind generation, educate the younger generation, build your own windmill,
  • raise monies for Cleveland projects, government funding, state funding, tax incentives, public and private partnerships, collaborate all organizations, connect all the dots throughout Cleveland, need the public to get heavily involved,
  • winddustrious.com, online resources--grassroots awareness, community involvement, political action committee, "Small Wind", working through the public utilities,

Wind Economic Growth

  1. We have the infrastructure and manufacturing capability to put Cleveland on the map in terms of developing this industry.
  2. We could have the first freshwater wind farm in the world here.
  3. Larry Viterna, NASA
    1. Cleveland developed the first wind turbine and first multi-megawatt turbines.
    2. Phenomenal market for wind turbines
      1. worldwide: $22 billion market
      2. US: 45% growth last year
    3. Future business opportunity is in population centers near shorelines
    4. Our goal is to develop the first commercial floating wind turbine for deep water
  4. David Rosenberg, General Electric
    1. Current state of wind energy in North America
      1. Originally used for energy diversity by utilities
    2. Why do we want wind energy?
      1. Quality of life
      2. Good quality of energy; clean energy
      3. Price stability for a 20 year period
      4. Water conservation
      5. Jobs – development of this technology creates jobs
    3. How do we get wind energy here in NEO?
      1. other states have passed legislation with incentive programs for renewable energy sources
      2. we need to do the same thing in Ohio
  5. Ron Richard, Cleveland Foundation
    1. What new industry could we create in this region that fits with our capabilities and history?
      1. wind energy: from R&D to manufacturing
      2. creates opportunities from the factory floor to the PhD level
    2. Create new image from Cleveland: from the city where the river caught on fire to Cleveland, the city powered by wind
    3. CWRU: center for alternative energy studies – in particular will work on the storage problem.
  6. David Nash, Corporate Sustainability Network
    1. Focus is on getting premier corporate citizens to adopt sustainable policies
  7. Ed Weston, WIRE-net.org
    1. This industry is sold out for TWO YEARS.
    2. There is a manufacturing problem; they can’t keep up with demand.
    3. Ohio is ranked #2 in its capacity to get us out of this demand problem & Cleveland has the right type of manufacturing capability.
    4. Great Lakes Wind Network: help manufacturers address this supply chain problem, both manufacturers that are already in the industry and those that could be
    5. Consortium to help the state to compete for this industry
    6. Advocacy: SB 221 (Ohio State Senate)
  8. Ewan Alexander, CWRU, Great Lakes Institute for Energy Innovation
  9. BREAKOUT GROUP:
    1. Brainstorming: how can we turn Cleveland
      1. retrofitting of existing facilities
      2. use of existing infrastructure and human capital
      3. state initiatives to help companies make the
      4. private capital investment/ angel and VC investors
      5. it takes a big investment to get into this industry
      6. could this be scaled down to kilowatt scale? Turbine manufacturing diversity
      7. citizen ownership
    2. Vision: community involvement; create incentives for companies to make an investment in this industry
    3. Operations:
      1. need to ensure that there is a skilled workforce for these companies
      2. one issue is that young people don’t want to work in a factory; need to work on attracting young people to work in an industry that helps the environment
      3. financial incentives and job security
      4. companies need to make these places attractive places to work to attract applicants for mfg. job
    4. Marketing
      1. symbol of Cleveland being a green/sustainable community
      2. citizen ambassadors
      3. Cool Cleveland
      4. models from other countries
    5. Finance:
      1. citizen financing
      2. tax abatement/incentive for this industry from local and state government
      3. federal funding
      4. Fund for Our Economic Future
      5. European models for financing (Denmark)
 
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