Sun shines on city's future

Posted By ALLAN BENNER , TRIBUNE STAFF

The future could be bright for the future of local manufacturing.

The city announced a new partnership with Oneworld Energy Inc. and its subsidiary, COU Solar Inc., to develop a solar energy manufacturing hub in Welland -- a project that could lead to the creation of more than 1,000 jobs.

Jeff Dennis, president and chief executive officer of COU Solar, said he hopes to see the first locally-manufactured products rolling off the assembly line by sometime this fall.

In a telephone conference call from his Toronto office, Dennis was joined by Mayor Damian Goulbourne, city manager Craig Stirtzinger, Welland Hydro president Ross Peever and the utility's board chair, Tim Clutterbuck, to share the announcement with local media Th ursday.

"We, and our partners, want to get to the market fast," Dennis said, his voice broadcast through a speaker phone at Welland Civic Square. "We need inverters in 2010. We need inverters and (solar) panels in 2011. Our goal is to have the first inverters come off the line sometime in the fall," he added, referring to the devices that transform DC current produced by solar panels to the AC used in the province's electrical grid.

One reason for the short time-line is to allow the company to take advantage of the provincial government's Green Energy Act (2009).

That legislation requires half the cost of new solar energy generation projects to be spent on equipment manufactured within the province. In 2011, the domestic content requirement will be increased to 60%.

Since the company works primarily with European and Asian manufacturers, it needs to establish a manufacturing hub in the province to meet the requirements. Welland, Dennis said, is an ideal location for that hub.

"Welland is clearly open for business," Dennis said.

He said the company's international manufacturing partners have asked, "Why Welland? What's Welland? I've never heard of it?"

But Dennis explained the city offers several advantages over other locations in the province, in addition to the city's eagerness to work with the company as well as its focus on the development of green energy initiatives.

Its location, near major transportation routes and the U.S. border, is one big advantage.

"There may not be a better location in Ontario if you want to do business both in Ontario and into the United States," he said.

Also, as a result of recent plant closures, he said the city has "a very skilled workforce that's ready to go."

Goulbourne said Niagara College can also play a part in any retraining required to help prepare workers for manufacturing solar energy equipment.

Another local advantage is the area's mild climate, Clutterbuck said.

"The Great Lakes region is actually excellent for wind and solar."

Dennis said plans call for the establishment of three different manufacturing companies in the city, including a solar panel manufacturer, a manufacturer of inverters and a company to manufacturer systems for mounting the solar panel equipment.

"Our intention is to establish at least one of each of these types of manufacturers in Welland," he said, adding the city has helped the company identify several potential locations where those companies could be quickly set up shop, potentially in existing industrial properties. From there, the company plans to develop solar power plants "in and around Welland," he added.

"We'd like to think that we could be building somewhere up to 42 megawatts of power production in Welland, in addition to establishing manufacturing facilities," he said.

The project will directly create 200 to 300 jobs. When indirect jobs are added, associated with ancillary work related to the project, "you're probably looking at well over 1,000 jobs that are going to come from the Welland manufacturing hub," Dennis said.

Goulbourne said the partnership is the result of a great deal of work by Welland Hydro representatives as well as economic development officer Dan Degazio, as well as the assistance of the provincial government.

abenner@wellandtribune.ca