At $750M, Foreign Firms Get 33% of U.S. Clean Energy Stimulus

by | Jan 12, 2010

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clean energy foreignForeign firms and their subsidiaries will receive about $750 million of the $2.3 billion in tax credits for clean energy manufacturing projects announced recently by the Obama Administration. That represents nearly 33 percent of the total awards, which are intended to spur U.S. manufacturing of clean energy technologies.

A detailed review of the 183 projects receiving tax credits shows that companies in Germany, which has an advanced clean energy industry, led the pack, by far.

German firms are getting in excess of $359 million, or about 48 percent of the amount awarded to foreign firms overall.

Volkswagen Group of America alone got $150 million in tax credits.

French firms are getting about $75 million in tax credits.

Despite stiff regulations in China to keep out imports of many U.S. cleantech goods, some companies based in China received $6.6 million in tax credits. Yingli Green Energy Systems is getting $4.5 million and Suntech is getting $2.1 million.

Targeted at 183 projects in 43 states, the Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits program is expected to create 17,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs. The Section 48C program will provide a 30 percent tax credit for investments in manufacturing facilities that produce clean energy products including solar, wind, energy efficiency and energy management technologies.

In addition to Volkswagen, some of the major tax credits are as follows:

– Wacker Polysilicon, Germany – $128 million

– SolarWorld Industries, Germany – $82 million

– Alstom Inc., France – $65 million

– Vestas, Denmark – $51 million

– Schott Solar, Germany – $33 million

Some firms receiving tax credits are joint operating agreements between U.S. and foreign firms.

For instance, Martifer-Hirschfeld Energy Systems LLC is run jointly by Portugal-based Martifer Energy Group and San Angelo, Texas-based Hirschfeld Wind Energy. It received $3.47 million, an amount not tallied into the above figure.

Click here (XLS) for a complete list of projects. About 30 percent of the projects will be completed by 2010, although projects selected for this tax credit must be placed in service by 2014. For more information about the tax credits, visit www.energy.gov/news2009/8503.htm.

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