Nordic Windpower USA, a manufacturer and distributor of utility-scale wind turbines, will expand its assembly plant in Pocatello, Idaho, and create more than 75 new jobs. The company says it has been offered a $16 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), part of the stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to facilitate the expansion, which will allow the company to deliver orders for projects throughout the United States and Uruguay beginning this month. "Nordic's expansion will create new and skilled green jobs to boost the economy and help meet America's growing energy needs with clean wind power," says Tom Carbone, the company's CEO. "President Obama and [Energy] Secretary Chu are acting decisively to invest in a clean and sustainable economy with 'shovel-ready' renewable energy projects such as Nordic's. We appreciate DOE's vote of confidence in our innovative technology and our business model." The California-headquartered company makes two-bladed turbines that are lighter and less expensive to install than the more traditional three-bladed turbines, which the company says makes them well-suited for community wind power developers.
