The current of international corporate investment continues into other airborne products, most notably in the wind power arena, as both wind farms and the facilities that create them spring to life across the province. GE is in the midst of that growth too, as are the composite materials that now compose both airplane components and windmill blades.
      In April, Denmark-based LM Glasfiber announced it would build a blade factory in Gaspe to supplement the plant it already operates in North Dakota. Expected to be up and running in January 2006, the plant will employ up to 120, and will work to serve the needs of a new eight-project supply contract between the company and GE Energy, involving 990 megawatts of production across Québec by 2012. Those projects are being executed by Hydro-Québec, Northland Power and Cartier Wind Energy.
      The immediate effect for LM Glasfiber will be a 35-percent boost in North American production. In addition, the two

Government of Québec Econ. Dev., Innovation and Exports Institut de la statistique du Québec (English) Invest Québec, Montréal International Aéroports de Montréal

companies plan to work together toward another 1,400 megawatts of wind farm capacity in North America by 2015.
      LM Glasfiber is also constructing a US$4-million wind tunnel for testing its blades, adjacent to its test facilities in Denmark, at the same time it cuts back at one of its three Danish factories due to decline in demand in Germany. In addition, it has beefed up its R&D with a new center in India — the company's R&D group has grown from eight to more than 100 in the past 10 years. The company's current global blade production capacity is more than 7,000 per year.
      Canada installed 123 MW of wind power in 2004, an increase of 51 percent over 2003. Increasing investment in the sector is expected in part because of progressive wind power plans from Québec, Ontario, Alberta and the federal government, which in February 2005 quadrupled its wind power production incentive program's goal to 4,000 megawatts. Those commitments in turn are a natural offshoot of the country's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol. According to the World Market Update 2004 from BTM Consulting, annual wind power installation in Canada is expected to grow from 300 MW in 2006 to 350 MW in 2007 and 500 MW in both 2008 and 2009.
      Originally conceived in December 2001, the program pays for "approximately half of the current cost of the premium for wind energy in Canada, compared to conventional sources," reads the government policy. Its funds of approximately one Canadian cent per kilowatt-hour are available for the first 10 years of a project.
      In the company's May newsletter, LM Glasfiber's Soren Knudsen, sales and marketing director, emphasized the immediate hiring of skilled local managers, as well as the uniformity of guidelines in the launch of any company facility. As a result of that consistency in production, he said, "our blades have a consistent, well-documented quality from all our factories — right from northern Canada to eastern China," and production can be easily shifted when necessary.
      Meanwhile, on June 29, Québec Premier Jean Charest announced that the government had authorized Hydro-Québec to acquire 2,000 more MW of new wind power projects, a move that is expected to attract more than US$2.4 billion in investment. The decree, still in the public comment stage, follows on a 2003 decree that restricted turbine farms and a portion of their manufacture to the Gaspesie region and the Matane area. Officials with the Canadian Wind Energy Association hope to see the second decree stretch the industry's influence further across the province.
      "This way, all regions of Québec can benefit from the province's excellent wind resource," said Sean Whittaker, policy director for the association. A 2004 study by wind energy consulting firm Helimax Energy in reported that the province's wind energy potential tops 100,000 MW. According to comments published in Le Soleil, Thierry Vandal, CEO of Hydro-Québec, said his organization would choose from among all proposed sites, which in turn will be proposed by "a large number of players" based on "resource quality and system-integration costs."
      In the meantime, smaller projects in Gaspe are garnering support too. A US$2.4-million turbine plant in Chandler will employ 30 people, but its end market includes Africa. Established by plastics firm Plastiques Gagnon Inc. and the city of Chandler, the new Energie PGE plant will manufacture and market small wind turbines intended mainly for export to developing countries, and the company hopes to create as many as 100 jobs over five years.