Gov. Rendell this week announced the Spanish wind-energy company Gamesa Corp. is expanding operations in Pennsylvania by investing another $34 million to open three new modern manufacturing centers on 20-plus acres of U.S. Steel’s former Fairless Hills industrial site in Bucks County.

The three new advanced technology plants in Bucks County will create more than 300 new jobs in the production of wind mill blades and towers and the assembly of nacelles, which house the wind turbines.

“It is an ambitious industrial plan that will reinforce our long-term commitment to the wind energy market of the United States, which is one of the priority markets for Gamesa,” said company President Alfonso Basagoiti, who noted that Gamesa has signed contracts for more than 669 megawatts of wind production during 2004 and 2005.

The new operations build on Gamesa’s presence in Pennsylvania, where the company has invested $50 million to locate its North American headquarters in Philadelphia and construct and operate a separate manufacturing facility in Ebensburg, Cambria County.

Thirty people work at the Philadelphia office; another 234 workers are employed at the Ebensburg plant, located about 20 miles north of Johnstown.

The Department of Community and Economic Development, along with the Bucks County Economic Development Corp., offered Gamesa a financial package totaling approximately $10 million in grants, loans and tax credits for the three manufacturing centers. The company received $9.31 million in state incentives for its Cambria County facility.

Gamesa’s blade manufacturing plant at Fairless Hills will produce parts for the Gamesa G8X-2.0 MW multi-megawatt wind turbines, which incorporate the latest technological advances, such as the use of carbon fiber. The $12 million plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 300 megawatts, will begin production in the middle of the year.

The new $7 million plant for the manufacture of towers for the Gamesa G8X-2.0 MW wind turbine platform will have an annual production capacity of 300 megawatts. This project will become fully operational in the first half of 2006.

The $15 million plant responsible for the assembly of the nacelles for the Gamesa G80-2.0 MW, Gamesa G83-2.0 MW, Gamesa G87-2.0 MW and Gamesa G90-2.0 MW wind turbines will have an annual production capacity of 1,000 megawatts, enough to power more than 300,000 homes. This project will become operational before summer.

Pennsylvania remains a leader in wind production east of the Mississippi, providing enough clean energy to power some 70,000 homes.

NewsClip: Rendell Announces Bucks County Site of Gamesa

3/10/2006