windadmin posted on February 16, 2010 14:00
Semiannual EDA luncheon will provide announcements
By STEPHEN TAIT
Port Huron Times Herald
St. Clair County is taking steps toward its stated goal of pursuing the alternative energy industry, the Economic Development Alliance executive director said.
Doug Alexander said the EDA's semiannual luncheon today will include good news in that direction.
First, he said Astraeus Wind Energy -- a joint venture that includes Port Huron's MAG Industrial Automation -- will be awarded a $7 million grant from the state to design, engineer and prototype production of windmill parts.
The money is from the federal stimulus bill.
Alexander said much of that money will be spent in Port Huron, where the company does manufacturing at MAG's plant on 20th Street.
Alexander said there also is good news from Vortex Hydro Energy, a company that creates electricity from the power of flowing water.
The company, which has exclusive rights to commercialize a technology patented at the
University of Michigan --a hydrokinetic power-generating device called the VIVACE converter -- plans to install its first device on the St. Clair River this summer.
Alexander said the company is in the final stages of permitting.
He said those are two major forays into the alternative energy market.
"I think we are starting to make some significant strides in that area," Alexander said.
The luncheon is from noon to 1:15 p.m. at the Thomas Edison Inn. The cost is $25 for EDA members and $30 for others.
L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County executive, is the keynote speaker. He is expected to talk about the "right-sizing" of local government.