KOREAN WIND COMES TO WISCONSIN

Wave Wind catches the wind energy wave
Thomas Content, December 20, 2009 (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

"As economic development officials await word on whether a European wind power company will invest in Milwaukee, an Asian firm is planting some roots in Wisconsin.

"Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea is expanding into the wind power business and is working with Wave Wind LLC of Sun Prairie to establish itself in North America…Wave Wind is a company that formed in mid-2007 as a joint project of Tim Laughlin and Robert Heinemann. Laughlin came from the heavy crane [wind construction] industry…[and] Heinemann owns and operates Wave Communications, a cell-phone tower construction firm…[They aim to] fill a niche market building small to medium-sized wind farms of one to 50 turbines…dealing with the challenge of oversized equipment like wind turbines, blades and towers…The jobs are huge and the logistics are oversized as well…"

Here’s how it’s done. From ecotricity via YouTube

"After experiencing record growth in prior years, the wind power market stalled in 2009. A rebound is forecast in 2010, but whether that will kick in before midyear is up in the air, Laughlin and Wilkinson said…[A New Energy policitical push in Congress for a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) is helping]…Wisconsin is one of 26 states with a renewable energy mandate…[requiring] that 25% of the state's electricity come from renewable sources of energy by 2025…

"The 45-employee firm has been most active in Texas, Oklahoma and other states where wind power development has been active…[focusing] on transportation and logistics of moving massive pieces of equipment - from trains to staging areas to trucks to project development sites…The construction work - hundreds feet in the air - requires the use of giant cranes and other types of oversized equipment…"

Wisconsin has wind assets. (click to enlarge)

"The partnership with Hyundai is moving Wave Wind's focus closer to home, as the company branches beyond construction and maintenance and into wind farm project development…The company is looking to tap local suppliers for its six-turbine Hyundai project, hiring Manitowoc-based Tower Tech Systems to build the wind towers…

"Some states have been ahead of Wisconsin in landing key suppliers to the wind industry, including Pennsylvania, Colorado and Iowa…But Wisconsin is poised to catch up. More than 70 companies are part of a statewide coalition of businesses that are getting involved in supplying the wind industry…"