// WIND ENERGY

Kansas City is located at the center of the North America’s Wind Corridor. KC offers wind energy companies with an excellent location to base North American headquarters and access field operations in the Corridor with one stop air connections to major cities in both Europe and Asia.

The Kansas City region is located at the most central point of North America's Great Plains Wind Corridor which stretches from the Canadian border south into Texas.

Conservative estimates claim that up to 20% of the nation's future electric supply will be wind generated. Regional utilities, KCP&L and Westar Energy have made significant investments in large scale wind facilities in the region and remain committed to increasing electric generating capacity through sustainable resources.

// MEAN ANNUAL WIND SPEEDS

The Kansas City region provides the following additional advantages for relocating and expanding businesses:

• Workforce – access to skilled craftsman, apprenticeship programs and engineering talent
• Access to rail/logistics – Kansas City is #1 rail center in U.S.
• Proximity to large wind farms in Northwest Missouri and Western Kansas
• Central location creates operational cost efficiencies
• Low-cost, reliable and abundant electric power
• Proximity to future high voltage transmission lines

Proposed and Existing Wind Projects in Kansas and Missouri

Source: Kansas Energy Information Network, The Missouri Partnership, 2010.

// EDUCATION ASSETS SPECIFIC TO THE WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY

• Metropolitan Community College Sustainable Technology Center
  The Sustainable Technology Center at MCC-Blue River is leading the way for green technology in the Kansas City metro area. With a Sky Stream 3.7 Wind Turbine and grid-tied photovoltaic array, MCC-Blue River is ready to meet your work force training needs.

• Cloud County Community College Wind Energy Technician Program
  This educational program will produce a qualified workforce to serve the emerging wind industry throughout Kansas and the Midwest. Graduates of the program will possess the necessary skills to secure a position with a modern commercial wind farm operation or an industry career related to the production and utilization of wind energy.
  

• Wind energy career development programs are currently being developed at Johnson County Community College and Kansas City, Kansas Community College.

• North Central Missouri College of Trenton and Crowder College recently signed an innovative Memorandum of Understanding that will provide northwest Missouri with access to alternative energy fields training. Crowder College, located in Neosho, Missouri is the home of the Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Technology (MARET) Center through which this new innovative agreement will operate. This mission of the MARET Center is to expand renewable energy throughout the state with education, applied research, and economic development.

• The University of Central Missouri recently developed a new wind turbine installation tech certificate program to fulfill the need in Missouri and surrounding states for specialized technical training in the wind energy sector.

• Pinnacle Career Institute is partnering with Texas State Technical College, a leader in renewable energy education curricula, to offer a wind turbine technician program in Kansas & Missouri. As this leading-edge industry continues to expand in the region, the need for trained wind turbine technicians who are crucial in construction and maintenance operations will also continue to grow.