Evergreen Solar Inc. will abandon its factory in Devens, Mass., after being unable to find a buyer, despite the fact that Evergreen took $50 million in state aid to open the factory. The $450 million plant was built five years ago. According to the Wall Street Journal:
The company asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to abandon the property before a $543,000 property tax bill comes due.
Evergreen has a deal with its landlord, Massachusetts Development Finance Agency, to get out of the ground lease for the facility, according to papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The plant was shut down last year and 800 jobs were cut as Evergreen struggled to survive. …
If the scenario set out in court filings plays out, Evergreen's ultimate fate will be similar to that of Solyndra LLC, the California maker of solar-power technology that shut its pricey new plant, filed for bankruptcy and struggled to find a buyer in a market glutted with the departures of failed solar-power-equipment makers.