Former Navy base secures $45M wind turbine development grant

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - South Carolina's industrial sector was bolstered yet again Monday afternoon when the Department of Energy awarded a $45 million grant to research and develop ocean-based wind turbines at the former Naval base.

The Clemson Restoration Institute and General Electric were notified Monday that the Naval base would be the first ever testing facility for the renewable energy source, putting South Carolina and Charleston on the "cutting edge of research and development of renewable energy," said a source.

The new lab will be located in a vacant building on the former Naval base, behind the building where conservation engineers are restoring the Hunley, a Confederate submarine.

In fact, research and development within the Hunley facility led to the Department of Energy decision. Researchers there are developing non-corrosive metals in saltwater conditions. According to sources close to the decision, the Hunley research was a deciding factor for the Department of Energy.

The new lab will create at least 600 jobs immediately, but has the potential to create as many as 10,000 jobs if the North Charleston facility can procure a long-term contract to develop and build the turbines.

Sources say this deal may prove to be bigger than the recent Boeing announcement to build a second 787 Dreamliner facility in North Charleston.

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