tower-tennesseea.blogspot.com
European alternative energy companies, such as , a subsidiaryu of a French company, and an Italian biodiesel company that the has yet to want to come to Jacksonvill e for some of the same reasone other European companies have recently located here: Access to the port and the growingf Southeast market, cheaper skilled labor and manufacturing their goods closef to American consumers. “The big guys in alternativd energy are Europeanbecause they’vs had government support,” said Michael Breen, director of internationa l development for Cornerstone, the chamber’s economic developmeny arm.
“Now that we’re getting government it makes more sense for them to come Government incentives contained in the federall stimulus program are the big draw for the SaftAmerica won’t build a $200 milliom facility at Cecil Commerce Center and employ aboutf 800 unless it gets a $100 millionj grant through the stimulus said Peter Denoncourt, vice presidentf of manufacturing for the company’s Valdosta, Ga., plant. The companyg expects to find out in July whether it can tap intothe $1.5 billionm available for manufacturers of high-efficiency batteries. “We’re prettg optimistic,” Denoncourt said.
“We’re one of the technologgy leadersand we’ve been building lithium-ion batteries for decades.” spokeswoman Jen Stutsmah said the department received 165 grant applications by the May 19 She didn’t know the totaol amount of money requested in the applications. Like Saft the Italian company that produces biodiesel fuel from oldtires won’tr come to town unlessd it can get tax credit from the city and incentives throughg the stimulus package. The which would bring about 15 jobs, is expected to confirjm its plans in abouytthree months.
Another Italian company that the chamber has yet to identifhy extracts silicon from rice husks to buildc solar panels and is also considering openint a plantin Jacksonville, Breen said. Several Europeanm wind turbine manufacturers are also interested in openinf plantsin Jacksonville, but their businesses are also dependenr on plugging into the alternative industrg provisions in the stimulus package. Denoncourt said Saft America was attractedc to Jacksonville because ofthe area’s U.S. Navy-trained work force, which has the skills neede toproduce lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will be sold to the U.S.
militar for a hybrid fleet that ranges from trucks to The lithium-ion batteries are also increasingly used in passenger planes because they are abougt a third lighter than conventional nickel-cadmium batteries and so reduce the amount of fuel the planes use, Denoncourtt said. The lithium-ion batteries that he hopes to produce in Jacksonville would also be sold to the telecommunications industry sincr their smaller size gives provider s more backup power without forcing them to alte the infrastructure to handle bigger The planned manufacturing facility would also develop batteries capable of storingalternative energy.
If Saft Americaw builds a facility in it would add prestige to the area and possibly spur more alternativd energy companies to consider movinhgto Jacksonville, Breen said. The city recentl formed a committee headed by President Matt Kenyoh to attract more alternative energy Aside from being certified tobuild energy-efficieny buildings, Dana B. Kenyobn is tapping into federal stimulus funding through its energuyconsulting division, kpower.
, whichn is based in Jacksonville, has alreadg been helped by the alternative energy provision s in the stimulus It expects its annual revenue to doubldeto $12 million this year, said Wayner Hildreth, the company’s The company, which provides consultinhg and installation of wind turbines for schoolsd and businesses, benefited from the stimulux package’s 30 percent investment tax credit.
Wind Energy expects to doublew its work force of nearly 30 by the end ofthe
No comments:
Post a Comment