Companies to bring large wind turbine plant to valley

A consortium of international investors is working with a major local real estate developer to build a huge wind turbine assembly and production plant in Southern Nevada.

But partners in the deal didn't offer specifics on when the plant would begin construction or when it would reach full employment, which they estimate at about 1,000 people.

Washington, D.C.-based private-equity firm U.S. Renewable Energy Group will partner with A-Power Energy Generation Systems of China and Henderson-based developer American Nevada Co. to launch the project, which would turn out enough wind turbines to generate 1,100 megawatts of power a year.

American Nevada will identify possible sites for the 320,000-square-foot plant and will develop the factory. A-Power will finance construction and operation with its own money.

Bob Cooper, economic development manager for the city of Henderson, welcomed news of the operation.

"This is the kind of big fish you always hope for," Cooper said. "But it's not surprising, because we've had a lot of international investors come and look at Southern Nevada and Henderson. And it's great to see someone like American Nevada, as a reputable local company, participate. That adds a significant amount of credibility."

It's not clear how much of the factory's output would be dedicated to higher-skilled production jobs and how much would revolve more around assembly jobs. The companies said most of the key turbine components would be made by other U.S. manufacturers.

The plant would have a substantial effect on the economy, Cooper said. Its workers would support local retailers and other services, and that multiplier effect could create two indirect jobs for every direct job added. The center could also draw new suppliers, such as metal fabricators, and it would give the region's business community a big dose of positive publicity, Cooper said.

The partners said in a statement that U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev, is committed to promoting investment in clean energy, and that's partly why they plan to build here. They added that the area is near major wind corridors and features affordable real estate and a skilled work force.

When that work force will be put to use in the plant isn't clear, though.

The partners have yet to pinpoint a site for the plant, and manufacturing operations rarely start with a full contingent of workers.

A spokesman with the U.S. Renewable Energy Group said the company expects the plant to come online in 2011.

But Cooper said that time line would be possible only if the group began the permitting and planning process today.

Dan Naef, senior vice president of American Nevada Co., said the developer's executives would spend the next three to four months working with the partners to pin down the plant's requirements and demands, and from there, they'll look for sites with the infrastructure to handle the operation. Naef said the land probably won't come from American Nevada's local property portfolio, which includes commercial sites in Henderson and North Las Vegas.

The partners say they want anywhere from 150 acres to 1,000 acres of land -- an unusually broad range, Cooper said. Most developers know specifically how much land they need, and to keep their costs down, they don't usually want a square foot more than is necessary.

The size of the parcel also indicates that the partners have plans beyond assembly and production, Cooper said. Consider the Levi Strauss distribution center in Henderson: It contains 800,000 square feet of space and sits on roughly 15 acres.

When companies take down substantially more land than they need, it typically means they expect to eventually build secondary or tertiary projects, Cooper said. In the case of clean-energy projects, it can indicate that the manufacturer intends to install actual renewable-power generation on-site as well.

Naef said the extra land could go to offices, shipping-and-receiving centers and perhaps even suppliers who want to set up shop near the plant.

Though the plant could have as many as 1,000 workers at full capacity, observers say it's unlikely to employ that many when it first opens.

Robert Boehm, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and director of the school's Energy Research Center, said a smaller, "expert" crew usually comes in first to debug a new plant in its initial operating stages. Whether a facility gets staffed up, and how quickly, would depend on how many orders the company had.

Cooper said most manufacturing plants start with about a third of their expected work force, and hold the hiring line there for about six months as production ramps up. Another third would come on line six months later, so most factories will have 60 percent to 70 percent of their staff in place about a year after opening.

This wouldn't be Southern Nevada's first large-scale manufacturing center dedicated to renewable energy.

Ausra, a solar-power company that makes thermal mirrors, tubes and turbines for solar-power plants, opened a 130,000-square-foot factory near McCarran International Airport in July 2008. The assembly plant employed 25 workers when it opened, and had plans to employ 50 full-timers when it reached its full production capacity of 700 megawatts' worth of equipment a year. French clean-energy company Areva bought out Ausra in February.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison
@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.