by Ann Withanee — November 16, 2011—Harrison Resource Corporation has collaborated with IDC Architects, a part of Denver-based CH2M HILL, to “vision” its Niobrara Energy Park, a project located in Weld County, Colorado that will combine clean fossil fuels, alternative energy, smart grid, energy storage, renewable energy, research, and cloud computing data centers. CH2M HILL will develop a vision book for the park, complete with project details, the types of facilities and power sources it will include, and more.
Niobrara Energy Park is a 640-acre project located near the Colorado-Wyoming border that will integrate natural gas and renewable energy generation facilities, including solar and wind energy, with data centers and energy research. Located in Colorado’s epicenter of numerous clean-energy initiatives, Niobrara Energy Park has received widespread support from government officials, energy-industry leaders, researchers and many others throughout Colorado and across the nation.
The 640-acre Niobrara Energy Park was approved in March 2011 by the Weld County Commissioners, and the zoning plat was signed in August 2011, detailing more than 45 energy and data land uses. A plat is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land.
According to Craig Harrison, president of Harrison Resource, his company has conducted 21 feasibility studies on the project. “This region has $1.2 billion in economic activity, including power creation, data centers, natural gas plants and more,” said Harrison. “The Fortune 100 companies investigating this project call it one of the largest ‘utility-scale’ MicroGrids on the planet, and Colorado Senator Mark Udall called it a ‘private energy island.’ We’re very excited to engage with CH2M HILL and IDC Architects to continue working toward bringing this project to fruition within the next few years.”
Within a close radius of Niobrara Energy Park is a multitude of energy and data-center initiatives, including BP Wind Energy’s $300 million, 300-megawatt wind farm, Duke Energy wind farms, XCel Energy’s Ponnequin Wind Farm, and NASA’s Aerospace Clean Energy Manufacturing and Innovation Park. Recently, Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power announced Wyoming’s first natural gas-fired power plant. EchoStar is building an $80 million data center nearby. And at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center, one of the top 10 fastest supercomputers in the world is currently under construction, which boasts free, 97-percent-outdoor air cooling.
The Niobrara Energy Park is on the market as one project for a single buyer or joint venture. The project is sure to be an effective location to lead by example in the use of alternative energy sources and to stimulate further research and practical applications.
