The Oregon Wind Energy Coalition seeks to promote the state

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“What we can do is make sort of a regional hub with expertiss in the operations and maintenancw and replacement ofwind turbines,” said Sarag Garrison, a business development officer with the Oregon Economicx and . Operating under the working titleof , the idea is in nascenyt form. The OECDD hopes the coalition will be readgy for unveiling at the scheduled for June 10 atthe , Garrisob said. The market potential locally couldebe huge. Oregon last year becamr just the seventh statee to break the thresholdof 1,000 installerd megawatts of wind energy capacity, according to a report released Monday by the .
The state reachecd 1,064 megawatts last year, two placesx behind Washington, which has 1,447 megawatts of capacity. One megawatt is enoug electricity to powerabout 1,000 The idea is borne from the concerns of wind farm operatorw and developers who fear the potential costs of servicing European-made wind turbines once their warranties Kevin Devlin, vice president of operations for Portland-baser Renewables, the country’s second-largest wind-energy operator, said turbines typicallt include a two- to five-yeat parts and labor warranty.
“After you’re on your own or you can sign up with the original equipment manufacturer for aservice contract,” he But state officials believe there’s an opportunitty for local manufacturers to expand their abilitiesz to service the wind market. Garrison described the group as a hybrid between a traditional tradegroup — sort of like the and the , which attractds interest from disparate industries uniting around a common goal.
“The best way to go is to get an organizationb that could bringthe companies, the original equipment the utilities, the developersa and the owners and operators together to sort of identify the opportunities and the barriersw and let them drive she said. Already, some players in the industryh are finding ways to work with regional manufacturerds to meet theirservicing needs. Devlin said Iberdrols was studying systems to help technicians more easily scale theoften 280-footg climb up wind towers.
After studyinf four different systems and finding themall lacking, Iberdrola sent an engineerinfg team to Seattle to work with , whic makes hoists, rigging equipment and other safety The end result was a new commercial product Iberdrolwa is rolling out nationwide. “It’s a good case studu of how you can work with a locao business and develop a product you Devlin said. Stephen Garner, president of West Linn-based , playee a key role in getting , the world’s larges t manufacturer of wind turbines, togetheer with Happy Valley-based composites company .
It’sd turned out well for Miles: About 35 percent of the company’ss revenue last year — estimatede to be between $10 million and $15 millio — came from servicinv wind turbine blades. “The turbine companies need to find or woulf like to have local support becausretransportation (of turbines) can be an issue,” Garned said. “And local companies want to participatre inthe industry. It works both One potential outcome of the trade coalitiohn would be the creation of a database of detailing what firms would be available fordiffereny wind-related services, Garner said.
“It would make it easiet for a company like Miles to expand its offering and make it easier for its customersw tofind it, evaluate it, and contractr with it,” Garner said.