Beacon Power, a company that makes energy-storing flywheels, and which received a $43 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last year, has filed for bankruptcy. The government funding came from the same DOE program that supported failed solar-panel maker Solyndra.
The DOE funding supported Beacon Power’s flywheel facility in Stephentown, N.Y., which started operating in January. However, earlier this month, Beacon Power received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq, after its stock had traded below $1. In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the company listed total assets of $72 million and total debts of $47 million. The company employs 65 people.