LANSING – A major development in wind energy production in the state, using what corporate executives said was a significant innovation in wind generation technology, was unveiled Tuesday by Governor Jennifer Granholm.

The proposal will involve development of a large new wind farm on the Garden Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula with the power generated to be sold then to Consumers Energy. Granholm said the development could also help lead to the state to eventually developing offshore wind power generation in areas of the Great Lakes that would not necessarily affect tourism.

Granholm said the development was a “technological breakthrough” and a “tremendous announcement” that will keep the state going in the direction of developing both clean energy and more jobs.

She also said because the project uses Michigan suppliers, and will be all Michigan-made, it could be a step to helping make Michigan the place to “power the upper Midwest.”

The system will use new wind turbines that are gearless and use permanent magnets instead of electro-magnets to generate electricity. That means the turbines will be able to run in gentler winds (officials said the turbine could start moving in winds of 5 meters a second compared to the 7 or 8 meters a second standard turbines require).

The turbines will be built in partnership with Merrill Technologies Group using Northern Power Systems wind turbine technology. The company will use components and parts from 75 different suppliers, all of them in Michigan, Granholm said. The turbines will be shipped to Heritage Sustainable Energy of Traverse City that will install them on the Garden Peninsula, which is east of Escanaba and on Big Bay de Noc, as well as another farm near Cadillac.

The power generated will then be purchased by Consumers Energy. John Russell, CEO of Consumers, said the company is moving aggressively to add renewable energy to its portfolio. Already, about 5 percent of the company’s electricity is generated through alternative means.

Electricity generated by wind power and other alternative sources is more expensive than power generated by coal and natural gas, but Russell said this new technology will help bring the cost of alternative power down. In addition, the cost of generating electricity through alternative means is now on a par with electricity generated by new nuclear or coal-fired plants, he said.

Granholm said the development is due in large part to the state’s adoption of a renewable portfolio standard in 2008. That bill established that 10 percent of the state’s electricity had to come from alternative generation by 2015. And it has helped lead the way for the state to expand wind generation of electricity.

In fact, considering a U.S. Department of Energy study that suggested as many as 30,000 people could be employed in the state in wind generation, Granholm said the state still has great potential for alternative energy development.

That would include offshore development of wind energy, Granholm said. Not all areas of the Great Lakes would be ripe for such development, she said, citing opposition to placing wind turbines off the shore of Lake Michigan.

But a report from the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Council outlined a number of areas where the waters are relatively shallow and would not impede navigation that could allow for wind generation, Granholm said.

The Legislature did not approve the council’s report before leaving for the year. She said she hoped the next Legislature would take steps to approve the report.

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