Federal grant will help Carter Wind Energy open its turbine assembly plant in Lawton

Carter Wind Energy still plans to open a wind turbine assembly facility in Lawton’s west industrial park, and a grant from the federal government will help.

Matt Carter, CEO/president of the Wichita Falls-based company, announced in April 2021 that he would build a facility in Lawton to assembly wind turbines that will be used in remote areas where communities are off the traditional power grid. The plant is to be located in the west industrial park near Goodyear and Republic Paperboard.

There has been little public movement on the project since then. Lawton Economic Development Corporation President Brad Cooksey said in May that Carter Wind Energy still had plans for the turbine facility and had established an office in the business incubator at Great Plains Technology Center.

Monday, Carter told LEDC members the project is still planned.

“It’s taken more time than we wanted,” Carter said, adding the COVID-19 pandemic was one factor that delayed the project, as was inflation that has dramatically driven up costs associated with construction and affected financing.

Carter said the federal government may be helping with that goal. His firm is among the entities selected to negotiate with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains on what Carter hopes will be a $20 million grant. He said that Department of Energy grant is one of seven the company is seeking, and Carter Energy was notified in November that it has been scheduled to negotiate for a $20 million grant.

The grant is contingent upon provision of local/private matching funding, he said, adding that Carter’s selection means the Department of Energy is interested in its product, important because the agency wants to invest in such energy companies. But the next step is just negotiations, he said.

“The situation is not an award,” he said, adding Carter still must argue its point and prove the local 50 percent cost share in money or in-kind services.

Carter has had its first meeting with the Department of Energy negotiating team, he said. He said awards typically are made between January and March, although “new red tape” added to the process could extend that time.

Cooksey said in May the firm would provide 300 jobs when the plant becomes fully operational.