Adjacent to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., Global Energy Park is in pre-construction mode to develop what its developer says will be a world-class cleantech hub for industry firms and research institutions.

The envisioned public-private project is the result of a multi-year collaboration between the State of Colorado and the U.S. Energy Dept, among others. The lab, known as NREL, is a unit of the department. “Because it is federal, state and local, it’s quite the partnership,” says Lu Cordova, project executive director and advisor to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. “We all work very closely together on this.” 

The project will have three distinct areas—North Campus, Mid Campus and South Campus—as well as open space. “The entire project, including NREL, covers over 100 acres,” says Cordova. “What we like about the site is that it can be an entire district. This is not an infill project where you’ve got a limited space from which you can grow, maybe, in a scattered fashion.” 

In early 2023, DOE took possession of Camp George West to transform it into the NREL-managed South Table Mountain Energy Park, the anchor of the South Campus. Initial work began in spring 2023, and NREL will also apply more than $15 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding over the next five years to infrastructure upgrades and building renovations.

A master plan will be finalized by late 2023, according to an NREL spokesperson. Because of the historical nature of many buildings, the lab will work closely with the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office.

While plans remain nascent, the Mid Campus will undergo redevelopment after its counterparts to the north and south. The current plan calls for workforce housing, light manufacturing and other facilities. 

The state has contracted with Denver-based NexCore Group to develop the 9.3-acre North Campus with a long-term lease on the property. The project is expected to cost $349 million, according to a NexCore representative. 

Currently in the design phase, it will feature 300,000 to 400,000 sq ft of office space in two buildings that are slated for groundbreaking in 2024 and delivery in 2025, along with an outdoor amphitheater and other facilities. 

“We are looking to build a net-zero-enabled building that sources energy using on-site renewables” says Allan Glass, executive vice president of NexCore’s science and technology group. “We can bring in newer technology to the site in terms of how we utilize and build out the construction, so it becomes a living laboratory for the tenants that are there. The hope is we can find tenants who are leaders in these industries to come and locate.”

NREL is one of just three applied laboratories whose work is focused on commercializing basic research of DOE’s 17 national labs, he adds. “The opportunity is to get those different silos of industry verticals together and start to collaborate and start to look to find ways they may be able to cross-pollinate with one another.”

Cordova says the North Campus will serve as a much-needed annex for NREL. “It’s across the street, and NREL has a secure campus, so this is like an extension of where they can go that is outside of the secure campus,” she explains.  Cordova says the lab "would like to have a place—and we would like them to have a place—where they can collaborate more freely with the energy community.”