Company Expansions - Wind
Wind Headquarters
juwi, a Germany-based renewable-energy company, announced in July 2010 that it will move its wind-energy headquarters from Cleveland to Boulder in September 2010. The move will bring 20 jobs to Boulder, where Juwi already employs 30 people at is U.S. solar headquarters.
American Zephyr Corp., a small, lightweight wind turbine company and subsidiary of Japan-based Zephyr Corp., signed a lease for 7,360 square feet in the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville in June 2010. The company is moving its operations from New York and Westminster and plans to employ 30 people locally within a year.
The global headquarters for GE Energy Control Solutions expanded in Longmont in 2009. The 180-employee facility provides products and services for turbines, generators, compressors, and controllers for hydroelectric and nuclear power plants.
Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc. (RES-Americas), one of the country's leading wind farm developers, move its corporate headquarters from Austin to Broomfield in 2008. The company relocated 70 jobs from Texas in addition to making 70 local hires.
REpower USA Corp., the wholly-owned subsidiary of German wind energy manufacturer REpower Systems AG, moved its U.S. headquarters from Portland, OR to Denver. The headquarters includes all administrative, sales, and project management functions.
Wind Manufacturing
Woodward, a Fort Collins manufacturer of wind turbine inverters that convert a wind turbine’s output into electrical power compatible for the grid, announced in 2008 that it would add 100 new jobs at a new production line in Northern Colorado.
Wind R&D
Vestas Technology R&D Americas, Inc. leased 47,675 square feet in the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville in July 2010 for a new engineering and product development division. Vestas spokespeople say the company will employ 75 to 125 new employees at the site in the first year of operation. The division will work to improve technology for existing turbines and develop the wind power systems of the future.
Boulder Wind Power opened in Boulder in early 2010. A former National Renewable Energy Laboratory engineer launched the company to focus on design, development, and production of a direct-drive technology to make wind turbines more reliable. The company plans to hire up to 30 workers initially.
The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory created the Center for Research and Education in Wind (CREW) in 2009 to advance the science of wind energy technologies to make wind power more accessible by reducing its cost and increasing its reliability and efficiency. CREW focuses on five areas of research: turbine modeling, electrical systems, control systems, turbine testing and certification, and atmospheric science. CREW provides opportunities for private industry to partner with other public and private research organizations including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, all of which are located in the Metro Denver region.
Siemens Energy established its U.S. wind turbine R&D competence center in Boulder in 2008. The facility employ 50 people and focuses on atmospheric science research, aerodynamic blade design, structural dynamics, and wind turbine dispatch prediction and reliability.
Wind Development
Clipper Windpower, a wind energy technology, turbine manufacturing, and wind project development company expanded its Colorado field office in 2009 to manage operations, maintenance, and service and warranty functions. Clipper’s Colorado office is now its third-largest office, after its U.S. headquarters in California and its manufacturing plant in Iowa.
