Danish wind-power giant Vestas broke ground Wednesday on two new factories in Brighton, reaffirming its faith in Colorado’s new-energy economy despite the economic recession.
The wind-blade and nacelle assembly plants, about 25 miles northeast of Denver, will employ 1,400 workers at full capacity by the end of next year.
Vestas estimates the price tag of the plants at $290 million, although local and state agencies have provided millions of dollars in incentives.
“Opening new manufacturing plants is not common these days,” said Frederik, crown prince of Denmark, who attended the ceremony with his wife, Crown Princess Mary. “Most companies are struggling, but businesses investing in green economy are thriving.”
Ole Borup Jakobsen, president of Vestas Blades, said President Barack Obama’s stimulus package that offers incentives for renewables and Colorado’s push to build an economy based on renewables prompted Vestas to grow its business in the state.
“Since we opened our first factory in Windsor (in 2008), the world has been hit by a financial crisis,” Jakobsen said. “America has elected a new president . . . and we see a lot of positive steps being taken to fight the slowdown in the economy.”
Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., attended the groundbreaking and said he wouldn’t be surprised to see a slowdown in a host of construction projects.
“Companies are watching the stimulus package to see how it shakes out over the next 45 to 60 days,” he said.
Vestas has drawn wind power companies to Colorado. In June, Siemens Energy, an arm of the German multinational, said it will establish its U.S. wind-turbine research center in Boulder. Connecticut-based Hexcel, a producer of carbon fiber and advanced materials that supplies parts to Vestas, broke ground for a plant in Windsor last month.
Gargi Chakrabarty: 303-954-2976 or gchakrabarty@denverpost.com
Vestas’ growth in Colorado
Vestas opened its first U.S. wind-blade manufacturing facility in Windsor in March 2008. The plant employs 450 and plans to ramp up to 650 by the end of the year. In August, it chose Pueblo as the site of a factory to build the towers that support wind turbines, the biggest in the world.
All told, by 2010, Vestas plans to spend $680 million at its Colorado plants and employ 2,450.
