Michigan has big plans for wind technology

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LANSING, Mich., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Michigan is growing as a leader in green energy technology by expanding its wind energy manufacturing sector, outgoing Gov. Jennifer Granholm said.

Granholm announced an agreement between Michigan utility company Consumers Energy and Heritage Sustainable Energy, a Michigan company, for new wind energy in the state.

Wind turbine manufacturer Northern Power Systems will build the turbines at its Saginaw facility and ship them to a wind farm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula operated by Heritage. Heritage will sell the electricity generated at the wind farm to Consumers Energy.

"The agreement announced today helps to solidify the state's emerging leadership in this industry," Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

The governor's office said research conducted by the state's Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth finds Michigan could generate as much as 16,000 megawatts of renewable energy on land and another 448,000 MW offshore.

Tides, currents and saltwater, the governor's office added, aren't inhibitors for offshore wind in the Great Lakes region.

Granholm in 2008 signed an energy standard that calls on the state to get 10 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2015.