AREVA is one of the manufacturers of major offshore wind turbines. They blogged about their testimony to the MD House today. This is all part of the House discussion on the OffShore Wind Act:
In testimony to the Maryland House of Delegates – Committee on Economic Matters, Steven Cuevas, AREVA’s Director of Business Development Offshore Wind for North America, represented an offshore wind turbine manufacturer’s perspective regarding the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act (HB 1054, SB 861).
Cuevas’ testimony included AREVA’s experience building a modern offshore wind turbine manufacturing facility, and described the potential regional economic impact of sourcing 3,500 components in the U.S. for AREVA’s 5 MW offshore wind turbine.
AREVA testimony is specifically valuable as they have been involved in European roll outs and speak to the value of wind power not just to the direct jobs but to the entire value chain of suppliers and ancillary economic activity around the wind farm effort.
Cuevas testified:
AREVA is prepared to make a full commitment to the North American offshore wind market, and is currently seeking partners to fully deploy the M5000 offshore wind turbine. Our market entry strategy is not merely to sell our turbine into the market in support of a small number of wind farms; AREVA intends on establishing a large industrial footprint in the United States as we help build the fledgling U.S. offshore wind industry.
AREVA has full industrial operations in Germany, and we are developing full market-entry strategies for the United Kingdom, France, North America and Asia. These strategies combine industry-leading offshore wind turbine manufacturing in association with regional supply chain development. Localized renewable energy production can be truly competitive when compared to traditional solutions. AREVA has experience employing this successful strategy in other business units.
...Insightful policies, like Maryland’s enforceable Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard and the one described in your pending legislation, will create a market and prompt large industrial companies to make local investments and create local jobs. We must look beyond the handful of entrepreneurial projects blazing the trail up and down the eastern seaboard, and establish policy that promotes an ongoing pipeline of activity building an offshore wind industry. I am speaking of gigawatts, not megawatts, of development....
Maryland’s neighbors are actively engaged in attracting offshore wind activity and forging ahead of where you are today. But through bold regulatory action, regional partnerships and sound political leadership, Maryland can quickly place itself in the competitive forefront establishing and benefiting from this relatively short-lived, first-mover market opportunity.