President Obama’s announcement to invest $70 million in federal dollars in new semiconductor research through a consortium of universities and private sector firms led by NCSU delivered a jolt of good news to the Triangle’s fast-growing cleantech industry.

RTP has become a hub for greener energy research, and the head of the Research Triangle Cleanteach Cluster says the “Next Generation Power Electronics Innovation Institute” could bring more jobs as well as investment to the region.

WRALTechWire reached out to Lee Anne Nance, who oversees the cluster as part of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership’s economic development efforts, to talk about the impact of the $140 million initiative, which includes private sector and institutional funds as well as some $10  million from the state of North Carolina. (By the way, NCSU is one of the founding members of the cluster effort.)

  • The President’s announcement  regarding NCSU would appear to be quite a boost for the region’s cleantech efforts. What is your reaction to the news?

We’re honored that it’s a great validation of our cleantech community and validation of building an eco-system that includes co-operation between business, government and academia. That we can now count more than 100 companies in the smart grid sector, up from an initial count of about 60 in 2011, is due to us getting to know more companies and how they are connected. And it illustrates the fact that investment will spawn additional investment.

  • Some of your members are involved from private sector. What does the President’s choice say about NC’s efforts to be a leader in cleantech?

North Carolina has proven it has the talent and the technology for pharma and biotech. This region has the industry strength, the intellectual resources and the skilled aptitude to make it an even stronger region for cleantech. The connections between the various members of RTCC and the larger industry network help build a stronger marketplace and spread out some of the risks that come with innovation.

  • Could this bring jobs to the area?

Anytime you see this large an investment, $140 million, you’re going to see innovation increase and jobs grow. The market for these products is global and it has the potential to be huge. The by-products of investment are both innovation and skilled workforces that smart grid companies operating in the region can efficiently absorb and utilize to win the contracts generated by the market opportunities.

  • How should the region seek to capitalize on these efforts?

Continue to proactively make the region an affordable and attractive place for skilled talent. Across the globe economies are rebuilding their energy, water and transportation infrastructure to make it “smarter” by making it capable of using resources more efficiently. This is a rapidly growing industry and the region has earned a solid foothold in it.

The Cluster’s Strength

Cluster members ABB and Cree are among the private sector firms making up the NCSU-led consortium. But those firms barely scratch the surface of the region’s firms that have a stake in cleantech/green energy development.

What follows is the complete list of “major” cluster members, although more than 500 firms are involved:

  • 3DFS Power Solutions
  • ABB (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • ABB Smart Grid Center of Excellence
  • Accenture
  • Advanced Transportation Energy Center (ATEC)
  • Advanced Vehicle Research Center
  • Alcatel-Lucent
  • Applied Research Associates
  • AT&T
  • Aviat Networks
  • Biofuels Center of North Carolina
  • Black & Veatch
  • Brocade Communications Systems
  • Bull City Biodiesel
  • Carolina Biodiesel
  • Carolina Solar Energy
  • Cisco Systems
  • Clean Energy Durham
  • Control Infotech
  • Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) CleanLinks Forum
  • Cree
  • Cypress Semiconductor
  • Delta Electronics
  • Doble Engineering
  • DNA Group
  • Dominion Power
  • Duke Energy (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • Duke Envision Center
  • Eaton
  • ElectriCities of North Carolina
  • Elster Solutions
  • EMC
  • Energy Control Systems
  • Energy ICT
  • EnergyAxis
  • Field2Base (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • Freescale Semiconductor
  • Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management Systems Center (FREEDM)
  • GE Energy Industrial Solutions
  • Green Energy
  • GRIDiant
  • Honeywell Building Solutions
  • IBM
  • INI Power Systems
  • Itron
  • JADOO Power Systems
  • Johnson Controls
  • KEMA
  • Majorpower
  • MasTec
  • Maverick Biofuels
  • MegaWatt Solar Power
  • Microcell
  • Ming Yang Wind Power
  • Nature Energy Solutions
  • Nexant
  • Nitronex
  • North Carolina Electric Cooperatives
  • North Carolina Offshore Wind Coalition
  • North Carolina Solar Center
  • North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association
  • Novozymes North America
  • Oracle
  • Piedmont Biofuels
  • Plotwatt
  • Power Analytics (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • PowerSecure International (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • Progress Energy
  • Quanta Technology
  • Red Hat
  • Research Triangle Energy Consortium (RTEC)
  • RTI International (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • SAS (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • Schneider Electric (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • Scribner Association
  • Semprius
  • Sensus (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • Siemens Energy (Founding Member of RTCC)
  • Skyward Solar Power
  • Solar Consultants
  • Solar Gain
  • Solar Solutions
  • Solargenix Energy
  • Southern Energy Management
  • Southern Research Institute
  • STMicroelectronics
  • Strata Solar
  • StraTech
  • Tantalus Systems
  • TE Connectivity
  • Telit Wireless Solutions
  • Triangle MicroWorks
  • Truveon
  • Underwriters Laboratories (UL)
  • United States Environmental Protection Agency
  • Ventyx
  • Verizon
  • WESCO International
  • Virtual Computing Environment