Michigan Ford Plant To Become Green Energy Showplace
Xtreme Power, a Austin area company has announced that it will play a major role in transforming a deserted Ford Motor Company plant into a green energy showplace. The plant located in Michigan, will be turned into a manufacturing plant for power storage systems.
The company which has been in business for five years, is expected to hire as many of 2,500 workers in the area between late 2011 and 2014. The facility is also expected to generate about 10,000 more jobs in the supplier related field.
The company manufacturers battery based energy storage systems for wind farms, large manufacturing companies and power utilities. The systems rely on lead acid batteries that will recharge overnight creating energy that can be utilized during the peak day time hours when the demand for more energy is higher.
A California company, Clairvoyant Energy of Santa Barbara plans to use a section of the plant to produce solar panels. Between the two companies, it is expected that $725 million will be invested in the project and a total of 4,300 direct jobs will be created.
The incentives offered by the state of Michigan will total over $200 million and the state will also help the company in finding another $500 million in loan guarantees.