About the Industry

Spanning a broad cross section of the energy industry – from traditional and renewable power generation to a strong base of utility companies to component manufacturers – the Upstate is a global exporter of energy solutions.

Renewables

Clemson University

Apart from its College of Engineering & Science, which supports over 3600 undergraduate and over 1100 graduate students annually, the university supports an impressive level of research in the advanced materials industry including the fields of photonics/optoelectronics and plastics which support growth in the photovoltaic and wind component manufacturing sectors.

Providing support to the solar energy sector is Clemson University's Advanced Materials Research Laboratory. The 111,000 sq foot facility is home to state of the art equipment  and world-renown research. Take a 3600 tour of the Advanced Materials Research Laboratory in Upstate South Carolina.

Wind Energy

The Upstate is blowing the competition away in wind energy.  At its 413 acres campus in the Upstate, GE Energy manufactures a diverse range of energy and infrastructure products. Operations include the Engineering headquarters for Renewables where wind turbines range from 1.5 to 4.1 megawatts are designed for both onshore and offshore applications. At its Tyger River location, Timken is supplying wind turbine products to China’s Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Company, one of the world’s top wind power equipment manufacturers. ILJIN America recently announced an expansion in its wind turbine bearings business. Other Upstate companies, Ahlstrom and AGY make specialty products for turbine blades.

Solar Energy

The solar industry is rising in the Upstate. Staubli has its North American headquarters in Duncan and manufactures electrical connector systems, connectors, cables and junction boxes, for the solar power market. Ulbrich Precision Flat Wire makes copper flat wire for solar cell tabbing and Warptek provides warping services for solar protective fabrics. KEMET has the green energy market covered and makes capacitors for wind, tidal, geothermal and solar energy generation.

Component Manufacturing

With its strong manufacturing workforce, particularly its strengths in advanced materials and metal fabrication, attractive business climate and prime location along the Eastern seaboard with proximity to dense electricity transmission infrastructure, the Upstate is in prime position to serve companies interested in doing business in components market.

Energy Systems Solutions

The Upstate is home to one of the highest per capita concentrations of engineers in the county. Over 45,000 in the State of South Carolina with 1/3 living and working in the Upstate. Given this tremendous brainpower in engineering, the Upstate is a breeding ground for companies providing solutions for Energy Systems. Upstate engineering companies such as Fluor, General Electric, Shaw, Jacobs Engineering, CH2M Hill, O’Neal and others are providing Energy Systems Solutions around the world. See SC Engineering Cluster

Highlighted Project: Upstate-based Fluor provided engineering, procurement and construction to Greater Gabbard Offshore Winds Limited, the world's largest offshore wind farm, for a 500 MW offshore wind farm off the coast of the United Kingdom.