Vestas to build wind tower plant in Colo.

By Sherrie Peif, Greeley Tribune

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Photo by Jack Dempsey © AP

A wind turbine blade is unveiled during the opening of the Vestas blade factory in Windsor Wednesday.

Vestas Wind Systems announced Thursday that it plans to spend $250 million to build the world's largest wind turbine tower factory in Colorado.

The announcement came through the company's first- quarter financial report, posted on its Web site. Company officials, however, would not discuss whether the plant will join its facility in Windsor in the Great Western Industrial Park.

Windsor Town Manager Kelly Arnold would not comment on the announcement.

Craig Cox, executive director of Interwest Energy Alliance in Denver, which represents Vestas along with other wind companies, said Vestas remains tight-lipped about the location of the plant. He said company officials might be waiting until an annual wind conference next month in Houston to make the announcement.

Cox said Gov. Bill Ritter's leadership in the push for more renewable energy in the state continues to make Colorado the leader in wind power.

"It shows that they must be pleased with the plant and the reception they've gotten in Windsor," Cox said. "The leadership from the people with passage of Amendment 37 in 2004 - this was the first state in the country to pass that by voter approval - testifies to Ritter's leadership for a new-energy economy."

Amendment 37 required the state's largest utility companies to produce 10 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2015. A subsequent legislative action doubled that to 20 percent by 2020.

"Gov. Ritter has brought new energy to the forefront," Cox said.

The $250 million tower production facility is expected to be fully operational in mid-2010. It will have an annual processing capacity of 200,000 tons of steel, or 900 towers, and bring 400 jobs to the state. Vestas also plans to establish a research and development center in the U.S. in 2009.

This year, Vestas opened its first American blade manufacturing facility in Windsor's Great Western Industrial Park. The $65 million, 350,000- square-foot facility eventually will produce more than 500, 40-meter wind turbines a year, according to company officials.

Originally, the company planned to employ 450 people at full capacity. But an expansion announced late in 2007 added another 250 jobs.