Jan 2 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Brian Lazenby Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.

Wind power could provide 20 percent of the United States' electricity by 2030, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy, and a Chattanooga-based company is working to make that happen.

Signal Wind Energy, a subsidiary of construction company EMJ, has built more than 25 wind farms across the country, and is primed to raise many more, said Ben Fischer, president of Signal Wind.

"Chattanooga has a long history of being in the power and renewable energy business," he said. "Sustainability is a key aspect of what Signal Wind is all about."

Signal Wind has built wind farms in Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota and other states across the U.S. as well as in Canada. It is building a wind project that will power an oil refinery in Texas, Mr. Fischer said.

During 2008, the U.S. surpassed Germany to become the world leader in wind generation, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Randall Swisher, AWEA executive director, said companies such as Signal Wind have devoted themselves to expanding the country's renewable energy capacity and helping beat Energy Department projections.

"Wind energy installations are well ahead of the curve for contributing 20 percent of the U.S. electric power supply by 2030 as envisioned by the U.S. Department of Energy," Mr. Swisher said.

Mr. Fischer said an energy source such as wind is environmentally smart and will ease American reliance on foreign oil.

"Building up the renewable energy sector is a smart way to bring some independence (to the U.S.) and moves us away from sending our money overseas to places that are not necessarily friends of the United States," he said.

Building the farms includes constructing roads, the foundations and the electrical systems as well as installing the wind turbines, Mr. Fischer said.

Engineering News Record, a trade publication covering the construction industry, ranks Signal Wind as the 47th largest power-producing company in the U.S.

Mr. Fischer, who declined to release Signal Wind's revenue figures or employment numbers, said the company is sufficiently capitalized to take on just about any size wind power project.

Parent company EMJ Corp. is ranked as the 59th largest U.S. contractor by Engineering News Record.

Mr. Fischer said EMJ built Hamilton Place mall, new wings of the Hunter Museum and Tennessee Aquarium and did work on the new BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee campus on Cameron Hill.

"That gave us the financial ability to bond and back any size wind project out there," he said.

Copyright © 2008The McClatchy Company