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Photos courtesy of The Ehrhardt Group.

Emerging wind turbine know-how as a clear vitality alternative for Louisiana was the focal point on Nov. 10 as a cohort of Louisiana elected officers – state legislators, business specialists, and financial improvement leaders – toured the Avondale Global Gateway and Delgado Community College Advanced Manufacturing Site. The tour was a part of the Center for Planning Excellence’s (CPEX) PowerUp Louisiana initiative.

Participants heard from tenant Gulf Wind Technology, which is on the forefront of creating wind turbine know-how for deployment within the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shell Gulf Wind Accelerator, on wind blade improvement and manufacturing. The wind-harnessing know-how being developed at AGG is poised to be a driving drive behind the quickly increasing wind vitality sector in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.

“Offshore wind presents exciting opportunities for Louisiana – and leadership and vision are critical to seizing those opportunities. CPEX has engaged this group of Louisiana leaders first in Rhode Island to experience the Block Island Wind Farm, and now at Avondale to witness firsthand the offshore wind assets that Louisiana is building, providing a forum for developing the shared vision that will be the essential north star guiding the decades-long work of building out a robust new industry,” mentioned Camille Manning-Broome, president and CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence. “Louisiana’s homegrown expertise coupled with newly available federal resources comprise a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to recalibrate what it means for Louisiana to be an energy state.”

Attendees included legislators Sen. Royce Duplessis, Sen. Mark Abraham, Rep. Jerome Zeringue and Sen. Mike Reese. Other notable business advocates in attendance had been Michael Celata with BOEM, Jenny Netherton of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, Abbeville Mayor Roslyn White, Blake Canfield with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Ashley Shelton with the Power Coalition, and Richert Self with the Port of Lake Charles.

During the go to, CPEX organized a panel on the crucial to spend money on the state’s instructional system to domesticate the workforce required for the offshore wind business. James Martin, CEO of Gulf Wind Technology, shared the rising applied sciences which might be reworking the capabilities of offshore wind generators. Panelists mentioned the belongings Louisiana has to command house within the offshore wind enterprise, together with alternatives to seize a share of the home manufacturing provide chain, current port infrastructure prepared for the offshore wind increase, analysis and improvement to reinforce vitality manufacturing within the Gulf of Mexico.

Adam Anderson, CEO and president of HOST, expressed optimism in regards to the progress made at Avondale Global Gateway, stating, “HOST is pleased to host our partners at PowerUp Louisiana. We share the joint mission of bringing significant economic development and prosperity to South Louisiana and these conversations are important to furthering our goals. With infrastructure and logistics centers like Avondale Global Gateway available in the region and with the support of government and energy industry leadership, we can build a thriving offshore wind industry in Southeast Louisiana.”