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Tag: Solar

Colorado approves $10M in incentives; largest award aims to poach major solar factory
denvergazette.com, State

Colorado approves $10M in incentives; largest award aims to poach major solar factory

By Bernadette Berdychowski | Denver Gazette The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved more than $10 million in tax incentives Thursday to three companies looking to expand along the Front Range. The largest incentive of $6.25 million was awarded to an unnamed solar manufacturer looking for other options to build its first solar cell factory under the code name “Project Phoenix.” It’s considering developing in El Paso County, in or near Colorado Springs. The EDC typically keeps the names of companies seeking incentives confidential in the competitive process to attract businesses from going to other states. At Thursday’s EDC meeting, Hari Achuthan spoke on behalf of Project Phoenix. Achuthan is the CEO and founder of solar manufacturer Convalt Energy. READ THE FULL S...
‘It felt like a land grab’: A Western Slope town battles against solar project
Local, The Colorado Sun

‘It felt like a land grab’: A Western Slope town battles against solar project

By Mark Jaffe | Colorado Sun It seemed like a good idea. Put a large solar array on 640 acres of sagebrush and cedar about 30 miles northwest of Telluride. There was already a transmission line running through the property and only some cattle poking around in the shrubs and trees. The Colorado State Land Board, owner of the parcel, had made siting renewable energy facilities a priority and even amended the lease on the Wright’s Mesa land to give solar panels precedence over cows. What could possibly go wrong? And so, on a May evening last year, Seattle-based OneEnergy Renewables held a community meeting at the public library in Norwood, the mesa’s only town, to unveil a plan for thousands of solar panels and a 500 megawatt battery. Norwood is home to about 550 p...
Floating solar array could improve water quality, lower the power bill for Fort Lupton — if a federal grant comes through
Local, Northern Colorado, The Colorado Sun

Floating solar array could improve water quality, lower the power bill for Fort Lupton — if a federal grant comes through

By Mark Jaffe | Colorado Sun When it came to its water treatment plant Fort Lupton had two concerns: controlling algae in the reservoir next to the plant and the aging diesel generator that backed-up the facility when the electric grid was down. In collaboration with its power supplier Brighton-based United Power and the co-op’s contractor Schneider Electric the city found a solution for both – and then some. That plan — a microgrid with a battery fed by 850 kilowatts of solar panels floating on the reservoir — is in line for a $6.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, part of $366 million awarded to 17 projects in rural areas and tribal nations from Alaska to Florida. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN