Frederik & Mary @ Vestas groundbreaking in Colorado

Today Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary travelled to Denver, Colorado, to take part in the topping-out ceremony for two new Vestas Wind Systems manufacturing plants. They lunched privately with local business people and business leaders within the climate and energy sector in Denver. Later in the afternoon they were at the groundbreaking event at the Vestas Factory March 25, 2009 in Brighton, Colorado).



Photos © DayLife

Crown Prince Frederik's speech

The Greeley Tribune - Danish royalty to attend Vestas site groundbreaking in Brighton
Omaha World Tribune 'Danish prince celebrates new Colo. wind plants'
Judith Kohler | AP
BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) - Danish Crown Prince Frederik said Wednesday that expanding a country's renewable energy sources and recovering from a recession didn't have to be mutually exclusive.
"Denmark is economically competitive not in spite of these efforts, but because of them," he said at a Brighton plant groundbreaking for Danish wind-turbine maker Vestas Wind System. "Opening a manufacturing plant, unfortunately, is not very common these days."
The prince, his wife Crown Princess Mary and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter attended the ceremony for two parts plants by Vestas, which already has a blade-making plant in Windsor, about 50 miles north of Denver.
The company also is planning a 400-employee factory in Pueblo to build towers that support the turbines, which it has said would be the world's largest such factory.
Ritter has championed alternative energy, which he called the state's "new energy economy" for creating jobs and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
"It isn't a slogan. It's an idea," he said.
The crown prince said that during a similar economic downturn in the 1970s, Denmark decided to wean itself off fossil fuels, leading to dramatic economic growth and a drop in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 13 percent. He also said renewable energy accounted for 28 percent of Denmark's electricity supply.
Ritter said Denmark could be an example for his state and the United States to follow.
The crown prince and his wife also visited Dana College in Blair, Neb., and attended a groundbreaking for a new ethanol enzyme plant being built by Danish-based Novozymes.
The Denver Post
CBS4 Denver

Vestas

CBS4 Denver clip (two clips on the menu)
TV2 clip (02:32) - a feature about Danish heritage (posted again)