Recent news of a lease option for offshore submerged land in Lake Erie created waves of excitement for longtime proponents of wind turbines along our Great Lake. We'll likely be seeing the blades of five giant wind turbines twirling high above the shore by mid-2012, bringing with them about 600 new jobs.

A study commissioned by NorTech last August revealed that those 600 jobs are just the beginning. Moving beyond the five-turbine pilot project and into a proposed 5,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2030, the State of Ohio could sustain as many as 15,000 jobs. About 8,000 of those would likely be located in our region.

"Because the equipment is so large, you'll have to do the work very close to where it's being commissioned," says Dave Karpinski, vice president of NorTech who heads NorTech Energy Enterprise, an initiative focused on Northeast Ohio's advanced energy industry. New skill sets for divers and drillers will be created. Legal and regulatory experts will be needed. The development of a vast maritime industry, with towing ships, specialized vessels and crews, could also take the region to new heights in advanced energy, he adds.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. With this, the first least option to be issued in the Great Lakes, Cleveland will see an initial upsurge in engineering jobs and permitting work, according to Karpinski. By the middle of next year, manufacturing and geotech work will be in greater demand, he adds.

Orders will begin for the five initial wind turbines this year. The momentum of what they will bring to Cleveland is just starting to be felt.

SOURCE: Dave Karpinski
WRITER: Diane DiPiero