NORTH KINGSTOWN – State and local officials were joined at Quonset Point today by executives from wind-turbine manufacturer AAER Wind Energy Inc. (TSX.V: AAE), parent of the Providence-based Wind-Smart LLC, to watch a 167-ton turbine begin its trip across Narragansett Bay.

The turbine – being transported in three sections – is bound for Portsmouth, which had its official groundbreaking for the municipal wind project on June 13. The turbine will be widely visible from its site at Portsmouth High School, atop a hill behind the town.

It was slated to leave Quonset Business Park at 1 p.m., traveling via barge to a Newport shipyard, according to the QDC. Barge operator Specialty Diving Services planned to have 10 riggers, crane operators and tugboat personnel on hand for the turbine’s cross-Bay float, the QDC said. After arriving in Newport, the turbine parts are to be offloaded by the shipyard’s 300-ton travel lift and trucked to Portsmouth for assembly.

When fully assembled, the turbine will stand 213 feet tall – 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty – and will produce up to 1.5 megawatts (MW). It is expected to yield enough energy to meet 60 percent of the Portsmouth’s municipal electricity needs, including street lights, schools and town buildings.

In December, People’s Power & Light agreed to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates against the turbine’s production for the next 10 years, meaning its members will directly support the project through the purchase of green power. A portion of its energy-certificates purchase will go toward the nonprofit’s New England GreenStart program, a renewable-energy power choice available to National Grid customers. (READ MORE)

Today’s event – attended by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, as well as representatives of the Town of Portsmouth; the Quonset Development Corporation (QDC), which operates Quonset Business Park; its parent agency, the quasi-public R.I. Economic Development Corporation (EDC); and turbine maker AAER and its Providence-based subsidiary, Wind-Smart LLC – was heralded by the QDC as illustrating “Quonset’s role in the emerging renewable energy industry in Rhode Island.”

The waterfront business park is also slated to serve as a headquarters for offshore-tower maker Deepwater Wind’s manufacturing facility and a distribution point for offshore wind projects along the East Coast. (READ MORE) In recent months, the Quonset facility also has become a hub for auto imports. (READ MORE)

“Today underscores the great potential for Quonset to become the center for the renewable energy industry in Rhode Island and the Northeast,” the governor said.

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“As you can imagine, moving these massive turbine parts presents transport challenges and requires special care,” Richard Talipsky, chairman of the Portsmouth Economic Development Council (EDC), told the QDC in an interview that appeared in the Feb. 18 Quonset Points electronic newsletter.

The business park’s “water access, ability to accommodate the heavy load on its pier and availability of barge service makes it a great option,” he added, “since the overweight turbine parts cannot be transported across the Jamestown Bridge.”

The Quonset Development Corporation, a special-purpose subsidiary of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, is a quasi-public company responsible for the development and management of the 3,000-plus acre Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown. Additional information is available at QuonsetPointRI.com.

AAER Wind Energy Inc. (TSX.V: AAE), based in Bromont, Quebec, Canada, with an East Coast office in Providence, is a manufacturer of wind turbines generating up to 2 megawatts (MW) of electricity. AAER says it “is pursuing progressive vertical integration, that is, the eventual on-site manufacture of the strategic components that go into the production of wind turbines.” The company’s short-term business strategy targets market niches for wind parks not exceeding 50 MW. Additional information is available at www.aaer.ca.