“We had many options for this land,” Phil Horlock, Ford Motor Land Development CEO, said in a statement quoted by Autonews. “But we believe this project, that revitalizes a closed auto plant and the local community, has the greatest potential to bring green jobs and economic development to the region.”
Back in August, the total cost of the investment in the reconversion of the facility was estimated at around $725 million. The revival of the site, even if it will not produce parts for the automotive industry, is rumored to create some 4,000 new jobs in the region.
Extreme Powers, based in Austin, Texas, was founded in 2004 and is involved in the development and production of power management and storage systems, ranging from 500 kW to 100 MW. The company is funded by private Clean Tech equity funds.
Clairvoyant Energy, based in Santa Barbara, California, is a solar photovoltaic systems manufacturer and operator. The company is involved in the automotive sector of the industry more than Xtreme, as it has already worked with GM, for instance, on the fitting of the GM plant in Spain with a rooftop solar powerplant.
The Wixom facility, opened in 1957, was the production hub for Lincolns and Continentals. In 2006, Ford decided to close the plant, together with other eight facilities, as part of its Way Forward plan. The last shift left the factory in 2007.
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