Ex-Im Bank lifts U.S. wind energy exports

Ex-Im Bank lifts U.S. wind energy exports    U.S. Export-Import Bank's Chairman Fred Hochberg last week affirmed the White House's aim to further promote U.S.-made renewable energy technology exports, particularly wind turbine equipment.

Hochberg

   “The wind-energy industry is growing globally, and more countries beyond the traditional markets in Europe and North America are turning to this clean, renewable source of energy,' said Hochberg, during a visit to Gamesa Technology Corp.'s Fairless Hills, Pa. plant last week. 'Ex-Im Bank is committed to helping companies such as Gamesa export to more customers in more countries to expand U.S. employment in these industries.'
   In 2010, Ex-Im Bank authorized a $159 million direct loan to finance the export of 51 Gamesa wind turbines to a buyer in Honduras for the construction of one of the largest wind farms in Central America. Gamesa in 2006 invested $34 million to convert more than 20 acres at a former U.S. Steel industrial site into a modern manufacturing center for the production of wind-energy turbines (nacelles).
   This year Gamesa will export 51 wind turbines to Honduras backed by financing from Ex-Im Bank.
   In addition to its Fairless Hills site, northeast of Philadelphia, Gamesa operates a plant at Ebensburg, near Johnstown. The company has a total U.S. workforce of 900 employees, about 800 in Pennsylvania.