08/17/2010
Gov. Jindal and Blade Dynamics LTD. Announce Major New Advanced Manufacturing Project at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility
With investment funding from Dow Venture
Capital and American Superconductor Corp., Blade Dynamics will
create 600 new jobs averaging about $48,000 per year, plus
benefits
Today, Gov. Bobby Jindal joined Blade Dynamics
Ltd. Co-founder and Sales Director Theo Botha, The Dow
Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) Global Business Director of Government
Markets & Lightweight Materials Douglas Parks, American
Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC) Senior Vice President and Chief
Strategy Officer John Collett, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Director Robert Lightfoot and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to
announce that Blade Dynamics will manufacture advanced wind turbine
blades and wind turbine components at the Michoud Assembly
Facility, or MAF, in New Orleans.
Blade Dynamics has developed wind turbine blade
technologies designed to increase the efficiency and performance of
high power (multimegawatt) wind turbines, while also reducing
costs. Dow, through its Venture Capital group, and AMSC have each
made a minority equity investment in Blade Dynamics.
Blade Dynamics has committed to create 600 new, direct
jobs by 2015 at an average annual salary of about $48,000, plus
benefits, as well as a capital investment of approximately $13
million. LED estimates the new, direct jobs will result in the
creation of more than 970 new, indirect jobs, for a total of more
than 1,570 new, direct and indirect jobs in Louisiana. In addition,
LED estimates the Blade Dynamics project will result in $35.8
million in new, state tax revenue and $23.9 million in new, local
tax revenue over the next 10 years.
"This is a huge win for New Orleans and our whole
state," said Gov. Jindal. "By recruiting Blade Dynamics and
its revolutionary wind power technologies to Louisiana, we are
creating hundreds of high-paying new jobs in New Orleans while
diversifying the economy of this region.
"Today's announcement marks a significant step forward for
Louisiana into renewable energy and green manufacturing that will
help us continue to grow our economy. Louisiana possesses a
remarkable combination of assets that make our state an outstanding
place in which to launch a green business. We have a low-cost
manufacturing environment, well-established transportation and
logistics networks, an experienced workforce in energy production
and experience in rebuilding with green techniques. Indeed,
renewable energy and green manufacturing is one of our target
growth industries that will help to diversify our economy, attract
more businesses to Louisiana and most importantly, create more jobs
for our people so they can find the same kinds of opportunities
here that historically they have had to pursue in places like
Dallas, Houston or Atlanta."
"We see tremendous potential for our technology and are
delighted to align ourselves with American Superconductor Corp. and
The Dow Chemical Co.," said Botha. "Our relationship with and the
commitments from the state of Louisiana and NASA will also
significantly impact the success of our operations and we are
looking forward to furthering both of those
relationships."
Blade Dynamics was attracted to MAF by a variety of
factors, including the availability of specialized equipment
previously funded by LED for the benefit of NASA and made available
to Blade Dynamics; the attractiveness of the full-service MAF
facility; the state's workforce solution, Louisiana
FastStart™; and a competitive state
incentive package.
To help secure this project, LED offered a customized
incentive package to Blade Dynamics, including performance-based
financial assistance of $5.4 million to offset lease costs at MAF,
performance-based financial assistance of $6 million to offset
equipment purchases and performance-based financial assistance of
$0.5 million to reimburse projected relocation costs. Through
LED Faststart, LED also will provide customized employee
recruitment, screening, training development and training delivery
to Blade Dynamics. The company also intends to use LED's
Quality Jobs program.
"This is an exciting win for Louisiana not only because of
the new, high-paying jobs it will bring, but also because Blade
Dynamics is in one of our top new target growth industries for
Louisiana -- green manufacturing," said Louisiana Economic
Development Secretary Stephen Moret. "In fact, this is the second
time in less than two months that we have announced a major new
project in one of our Blue Ocean target industry sectors in the New
Orleans area. We are working hard every day to position Louisiana's
economy to outperform the South and U.S. on a regular
basis."
MAF is an 832-acre site owned by NASA and located in
eastern New Orleans. One of the largest manufacturing campuses in
the world, NASA and Lockheed Martin have used this site for the
construction of the space shuttle's external fuel tanks for more
than 30 years. The facility is undergoing a
transformation to become a multitenant complex for government
agencies and their contractors, as well as commercial businesses.
For more than a year, LED, NASA and Jacobs Technology
Inc. have been collaborating to attract new advanced
manufacturing tenants to MAF. More than a million square feet of
MAF currently is available for additional high-tech, private-sector
tenants.
"We are happy to enter into this initial agreement to make
Michoud the location for Blade Dynamics' U.S. subsidiary," said
NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility Transition Manager Steve Doering.
"Like NASA, Blade Dynamics is utilizing advanced technology to
improve the state of the industry, making it an ideal fit for the
transformed Michoud campus."
Blade Dynamics' proprietary designs will provide
compelling advantages for wind turbines rated at two megawatts and
higher. This platform also is expected to break industry barriers
by enabling blades greater than 80 meters (264 feet) in length for
wind turbines with power ratings of 10 megawatts or more that are
currently under development.
"The design and manufacturing processes for wind turbine
blades have remained fundamentally unchanged for 20 years," said
AMSC Founder, Chairman and CEO Gregory Yurek. "Today, however, the
market is migrating to higher wind turbine power ratings. Onshore
wind turbines now exceed two megawatts in many locations and
offshore wind farm developers are increasingly seeking wind
turbines with power ratings exceeding five megawatts. Blade
Dynamics presents us -- and the entire wind industry -- with a
game-changing wind turbine blade technology that enhances
performance and reduces weight and cost for high-power wind
turbines. We view this as a compelling investment and expect many
wind turbine manufacturers, including our own AMSC
Windtec™ licensees, to quickly migrate to
the Blade Dynamics solution to avail themselves of these
competitive advantages. In fact, AMSC Windtec and Blade Dynamics
engineers have already been working in close collaboration to
optimize blades for AMSC Windtec turbine designs."
"Dow believes Blade Dynamics' technology has the potential
to significantly improve the performance of wind power generation
and transform the industry," said Monty Bayer, global business
director, Dow Ventures & Business Development, Licensing and
Venture Capital. "This investment is another example of Dow's
commitment to supporting and accelerating the development of
innovative technologies and alternative energy
solutions."
"We are pleased to recognize and appreciate the high level
of industrial understanding and the support to this technologically
advanced project offered by the state of Louisiana," said Parks.
"Gov. Bobby Jindal has again confirmed his commitment to
sustainable development for Louisiana, significantly positioning
the state as a leader in the international clean technology arena
to accelerate its economic development and social
growth."
"Blade Dynamics decision to move to New Orleans and Michoud is
significant on many levels: it marks a new beginning for MAF has a
diversified manufacturing facility; it is the vanguard for a highly
promising, "green" manufacturing sector in Louisiana; and, it
signals to the rest of the world that New Orleans and Louisiana is
a globally-competitive corporate location," said Michael Hecht,
president & CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc. " Greater New
Orleans Inc. looks forward to supporting Blade Dynamics and their
joint venture partners via its "GreenN.O." initiative, which aims
to make southeastern Louisiana a global hub for the intersection of
advanced manufacturing and sustainable industry."
About Blade Dynamics Ltd.
Blade Dynamics Ltd. was founded in 2007 with the purpose of
improving wind turbine rotor performance to lower the cost of wind
energy. Located on the Isle of Wight, the company's principals have
extensive experience in designing and manufacturing large, advanced
wind turbine blades using composite materials. The company's
product development efforts center on high-performance composite
structures that allow rotors to be lighter and improve
aerodynamics. Blade Dynamics also has developed Bladeskyn, a
revolutionary surface material that extends the lifetime and
significantly lowers lifecycle costs for wind turbine blades. The
company expects that its blade technology will enable the
development of rotors that are approximately 200 meters in
diameter.
About Dow Venture Capital
Dow Venture Capital invests in promising startup companies in
North America, Europe and Asia. It supports its portfolio with
capital, technology and a global network of potential development
partners. The energy and clean technologies sectors are among the
key areas of interest for Dow Venture Capital. Dow Venture Capital
is located in the company's headquarters in Midland, Mich., in
Dow's European headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland and in Gotemba,
Japan.
About The Dow Chemical Co.
The Dow Chemical Co. combines the power of science and
technology with the "Human Element" to passionately innovate what
is essential to human progress. The company connects chemistry and
innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address
many of the world's most challenging problems, such as the need for
clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and
increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified,
industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced
materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad
range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in
approximately 160 countries and in high-growth sectors, such as
electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow
had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000
people worldwide. The company's more than 5,000 products are
manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe.
About American Superconductor
Corp.
American Superconductor Corp. offers an array of
proprietary technologies and solutions spanning the electric power
infrastructure -- from generation to delivery to end use. The
company is a leader in renewable energy, providing proven,
megawatt-scale wind turbine designs and electrical control systems.
The company also offers a host of Smart Grid technologies for power
grid operators that enhance the reliability, efficiency and
capacity of the grid, and seamlessly integrate renewable energy
sources into the power infrastructure. These include superconductor
power cable systems, grid-level surge protectors and power
electronics-based voltage stabilization systems. AMSC's
technologies are protected by a broad and deep intellectual
property portfolio consisting of hundreds of patents and licenses
worldwide.
