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Building on Regional Resources Industry Development for Wind Texas’ wind industry has developed significantly in recent years, with much growth occurring since Texas adopted its Renewable Portfolio Standard. Texas leads the nation in wind production- right at 28% Total output for the state ranks 5th among other nations globally ◦ US-28,206 MW ◦ Germany-23,903 MW ◦ Spain-16,754 MW ◦ China-12,210 MW ◦ India-9,645 MW ◦ Texas-9,571 MW Texas has made a $4.7 million investment in T&D infrastructure through the CREZ program.

Economic Development – The NREL Large Blade Test Facility In June 2007, Texas was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to be home to a large-scale wind turbine research and testing facility, accelerating the commercial availability of wind energy. Blade testing is required to meet wind turbine design standards, reduce machine cost, and reduce the technical and financial risk of deploying mass-produced wind turbine models. The Wind Alliance, a Texas-led coalition of universities, government agencies and corporate partners, was created to prepare the proposal for submission to the federal government. The Alliance includes the State’s major universities, as well as operators and suppliers to the North American wind energy industry. A site location just north of Corpus Christi at Ingleside on the Bay was chosen because of its access to the Gulf of Mexico. The facilities are expected to be operational in 2010.

The Wind Energy Institute A Public – Private Partnership

The Texas Wind Energy Institute Texas Tech University is the primary contractor, sub- contracting with TSTC-West Texas. Tech had an existing Ph.D. program in Wind Sciences. TSTC-WT had an existing Certificate program in Windsmith training. Regional coverage of existing wind fields could be accomplished with the geographic dispersion of the original TWEI partners. As new fields were announced along the Rio Grande and South Texas Coast, training services became a requirement to support industry growth and job creation. The addition of TSTC-Harlingen gives the Institute an enhanced statewide presence.

Texas’ Skills Development Fund Focuses on Employer Needs Assisting Businesses : ◦ Financing the design and implementation of customized job training projects and merging business needs with local training solutions ◦ Customizing the curriculum, including developing company specific instructional examples An example of a Skills Development Project is the grant to Martifer – Hirschfield. ◦ This project will train new and incumbent employees of a new joint venture between Martifer Energy Systems, based in Portugal, and Hirschfield Industries, headquartered in San Angelo. Martifer produces towers, coverings, and gearboxes for wind turbines. Hirschfield is one of the largest fully integrated fabricators of highly engineered structural steel components in North America. The company created from the joint venture will manufacture wind turbine components in the U.S. to serve the North American markets. Within 4 years, it is expected to employ 225 workers and produce 400 wind towers a year. The training will focus on high-level production processes, welding, safety, distribution systems, and leadership. Other Skills recipients include: ◦ NextEra Energy Resources ◦ Siemens Energy ◦ Wave Wind LLC ◦ Mitsubishi Power Systems – Americas ◦ Upwind Solutions

Technology-Based Competitiveness Companies are demanding :  Improved ease of doing business  Dependable infrastructure  Skilled resources  Support for new ideas and industries  Cost competitive labor  Responsiveness to increased demands for productivity And Texas delivers!