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BIW Explores Future in Wind Power

April 29, 2009 - BATH -- Known for building naval warships, Bath Iron Works has begun exploring whether it can expand into the renewable energy business.

The company is researching opportunities in industrial products and services, with a focus on energy – notably offshore wind-power development and maintenance. BIW representatives gave a presentation this month to the state's Ocean Energy Task Force, which is working on a strategy to place wind turbines off the Maine coast.

The potential for pursuing offshore wind development also was included as part of a vision for the shipyard's future in a presentation to employees by Jeffrey S. Geiger, the shipyard's new president.

With 5,600 workers and an annual payroll of $326 million, BIW is among the state's largest private-sector employers. Since 1980, almost all of its revenue has come from designing and building combat ships. The company has no plans to move away from that core business; it stresses that strong performance in military contracts is a baseline for expanding into other ventures.

That said, BIW is looking for opportunity in a changing world. Early this year, the company began researching the renewable energy market, Geiger told the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

"The increasing need for alternative sources of energy, coupled with our expertise in complex marine systems, makes it natural for us to look at the possibilities in ocean energy, including offshore wind, tidal and wave," Geiger said.

Some important factors are changing the way BIW views the future.

The Obama administration is moving quickly to promote renewable energy production with tax credits and other incentives. It recently published regulations that are expected to speed up wind turbine development in federal waters.

Projects already pending in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Delaware may benefit from the government's new direction. If built over the next decade, these projects would mirror wind parks already operating in Europe – most off Denmark and the United Kingdom – that generate more power overall than a large nuclear power plant.

In Maine, a task force appointed by Gov. John Baldacci is working to advance tidal and wave power development and to help the state meet ambitious wind-power development goals. A portion of that wind generation would come from reliable breezes off the coast. Some of Maine's leading industrial companies, such as Cianbro Corp. and Reed & Reed Inc., are trying to position themselves to profit from this policy.

BIW sees the potential, too. It has a world-class work force of welders, electricians and fabricators who assemble complex systems for a marine environment. It has the expertise to create the specialized support vessels that build and service offshore wind parks. The shipyard also has massive cranes and climate-controlled buildings that could be used to fabricate platforms and accommodate turbine blades and tower structures, which can be as long as a football field.

"If there's something that's going to be big and steel off the coast of Maine, BIW is going to be interested in that," said Lisa Read, a strategic planner in charge of reviewing energy options for the shipyard.

At the invitation of the ocean task force, Read and Jon Fitzgerald, BIW's general counsel, spoke to the group this month. They summarized the yard's capabilities and potential interests.

Read cautioned that the company is in the early stages of determining how it might play a role in this emerging market. There's no firm timeline, she said, but the effort has the full support of top management.

"This is the first time we've put this much focus on alternative energy," she said.

Geiger told the newspaper that the company's role remains unclear. But he added: "If there are plans for large, steel structures to be installed off the coast of Maine to provide clean energy, we want to be involved I know we have the experienced work force and facilities to design, construct and support those installations and to design and build the ships that will make those plans a reality."

BIW's interest makes sense to Don Perkins, president of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, who co-chairs the ocean task force. Along with Cianbro, Reed & Reed, the University of Maine and others, the state has the research and manufacturing foundations for an offshore wind-power industry. They can take advantage of what Perkins expects to be a coming era of economic growth that combines energy independence with national security.

"Lots of heavy-industry players are going to be looking at how that growth aligns with their core competencies," he said.

BIW's position also is encouraging to Peter Woodruff, a BIW mechanic. He is spearheading a petition drive that calls on state and federal officials to begin working to get offshore energy infrastructure built in Bath. Woodruff has gotten help from peace activists, who have been circulating the petition in the Bath-Brunswick region and other areas.

BIW's efforts won't lead him to call off the petition drive, Woodruff said.

"Our legislators have to get the message," he said, "that they need to work just as hard to get funding for this as for Navy ships. It's also a national security issue."

Monday April 27th, 2009

by Tux Turkel, staff writer
Portland Press Herald news story


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