The Oregon Wind Energy Coalition seeks to promote the state

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“What we can do is make sort of a regiona hub with expertise in the operatione and maintenance and replacement of wind saidSarah Garrison, a business developmenyt officer with the Oregonm Economic and . Operatinvg under the working titleof , the idea is in nascenf form. The OECDD hopes the coalition will be readu for unveiling at the scheduled for June 10 atthe , Garriso n said. The market potential locally could be Oregon last year became just the seventgh state to break the thresholdof 1,000 installed megawattx of wind energy capacity, according to a report releasex Monday by the .
The state reached 1,064 megawattsw last year, two places behind Washington, which has 1,447y megawatts of capacity. One megawatt is enougnh electricity to powerabout 1,000p homes. The idea is bornse from the concerns of wind farm operators and developers who fear the potential costs ofservicinh European-made wind turbines once their warranties Kevin Devlin, vice presidenyt of operations for Portland-based the country’s second-largest wind-energy operator, said turbiness typically include a two- to five-year parts and labor “After that, you’re on your own or you can sign up with the originaol equipment manufacturer for a service contract,” he said.
But statw officials believe there’s an opportunity for loca manufacturers to expand their abilities to servicde thewind market. Garrison described the group as a hybrir between a traditional tradregroup — sort of like the and the , which attracts interest from disparate industriesx uniting around a commonm goal. “The best way to go is to get an organization that could bring the the originalequipment manufacturers, the utilities, the developerz and the owners and operatorws together to sort of identify the opportunities and the barriers and let them drive it,” she said.
some players in the industruy are finding ways to work with regionalk manufacturers to meet theirservicing needs. Devlin said Iberdrola was studyiny systems to help techniciands more easily scale theoften 280-foot climnb up wind towers. After studying four differentt systems and finding themall lacking, Iberdrola sent an engineering team to Seattlr to work with , which makea hoists, rigging equipment and other safety accessories. The end resultr was a new commercial product Iberdrola is rollingout nationwide. “It’d a good case study of how you can work with a locak business and develop a producgyou need,” Devlin said.
Stephehn Garner, president of West Linn-based , playec a key role in gettingh , the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, together with Happy Valley-based compositee company . It’s turned out well for Miles: About 35 percent of the company’e revenue last year — estimated to be betwee $10 million and $15 million — came from servicing wind turbins blades. “The turbine companies need to find or would like to have localk support becausetransportation (of turbines) can be an Garner said.
“And local companiess want to participate in the It works both One potential outcome of the trade coalition would be the creatiobn of a databaseof capabilities, detailinyg what firms would be available for different wind-relates services, Garner said. “It would make it easier for a compangy like Miles to expand its offering and make it easiefr for its customers tofind it, evaluate it, and contract with Garner said.