From left to right: Lincoln Electric Chairman and CEO John Stropki; Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland; and Lincoln Senior Vice President and Lincoln Electric North America president, George Blankenship.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland recently announced that 25 Ohio solar and wind projects will receive more than $13 million in grants funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s State Energy Program. The announcement was made Nov. 29 at Lincoln Electric’s Automation Center of Excellence in Cleveland, highlighting the company’s welding solutions for wind tower fabricators.

Among those projects was $1 million awarded to Lincoln Electric to help install a wind turbine at its Cleveland manufacturing facilities. The plans call for a 2.5-megawatt turbine that will generate approximately 10 percent of the electrical needs for Lincoln’s Cleveland manufacturing operations.

“We are excited to have this opportunity under Ohio’s energy program to demonstrate the value of wind energy by investing in our own installation,” said Lincoln’s chairman and CEO John Stropki. “This project is a continuation of other Lincoln environmental, health and safety programs, and green initiatives currently under way in our manufacturing operations to improve our costs and protect our environment. Not only will the wind project provide long-term benefits by reducing our energy costs, it will also showcase the unique benefits that Lincoln products and welding solutions provide to wind tower manufacturers to improve their quality and lower their costs.”