More news of the week: ION, ADA-ES Vestas, Abound

• ION Engineering ($3 million) and ADA-ES ($11.1 million) received DOE grants for carbon capture technology development.
• Vestas’ new R&D facility means 46 jobs in Louisville – primarily from Brighton.
• Abound Solar will ramp up its Longmont plant before starting up a factory in Indiana.

This week’s news: Abound Solar, NREL

The Post’s Steve Raabe profiles NREL’s new net-zero research building in this morning’s paper.

The DBJ reports that Abound Solar has received $400 million in loan guarantees under the federal stimulus program

News from the week

Xcel started an experimental power plant near Grand Junction that uses a combination of solar power and coal.

The Denver Post has a profile on CSU professor Walajabad Sampath, who is working on making a more efficient solar cell after his instrumental role in Abound Solar’s early days.

RES Americas finds wind farm owner/operator

This week, Broomfield-based RES Americas announced it found a future owner and operator of its 250-megawatt wind farm to be built in eastern Colorado. Previously, Xcel committed to a 20-year deal to buy the power from the development.

Colo. Vestas plants get new orders

Per the Denver Business Journal:

“Vestas Wind Systems said Wednesday it’s received an order for 79 wind turbines, capable of generating 142 megawatts of power, from Capital Power Corp. for a wind farm in British Columbia, Canada, and the turbine maker’s Colorado plants will be involved in filling the order.”

Ascent Solar helps win $3.8M contract

With a group of companies, Thornton-based Ascent Solar will develop lightweight solar arrays that can withstand battle conditions.

Bacon-Xcel standoff continues in New York Times

In response to the New York Times article from earlier this month on the Xcel-Louis Bacon standoff on the $180 million power line in the San Luis Valley, Bacon’s letter to the editor was published today.

Colo. Cleantech Open semifinalists named

From the Denver Business Journal:

• BioVantage, Golden ― It has developed a scalable algae production system for wastewater treatment.

• CleanEngines, Fort Collins ― It has developed a “direct injection” two-stroke engine retrofit kit.

• PCM Innovations, Longmont ― It has developed esBits, a formulation for encapsulated “phase change material” that, when installed in a building, can decrease energy consumption by more than 25 percent.

Last decade: State received more than $1B in cleantech funds

The Post’s Mark Jaffe reports on a study showing that nearly $800 million in VC investment and $300 million in government stimulus money has poured into Colorado in the last decade. The state received the 15th-most stimulus funds.

Elsewhere, ColoradoBiz editor Mike Cote profiles some of the Cleantech Open semifinalists.

CSU launches solar R&D; picks new wind developer

A couple pieces of CSU news from this week:

• The university announced the launch of a solar R&D center that will be led by W.S. Sampath, a professor and the co-founder of Abound Solar.
• Also, CSU named a new developer for its planned wind far, near the Wyoming border. The previous developer, Wind Holding LLC, was declared in default after being hit by the recession.