NextEra Energy Resources, through an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, and Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3), completed a 2.6-MW solar system on the main college campus in Dryden, New York. The system, installed on approximately 10 acres, is expected to meet 90 percent of the college's electricity needs. The ground-mounted fixed-array system is composed of 8,676 solar modules. TC3 will purchase the electricity from the solar project over the term of a 25-year PPA.

The Babcock & Wilcox board of directors approved the spin-off of the power generation business creating a new public company. The power generation business will be named Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, and operate as Babcock & Wilcox. It will be headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. The remaining company will change its name to BWX Technologies on the date of the spin-off and will be headquartered in Lynchburg, Va. 

Tampa Electric received the Edison Electric Institute's (EEI's) 2015 Edison Award, the electric power industry's highest honor, for its design and construction of a reclaimed water system at its Polk Power Station in Polk County, Florida. Tampa Electric designed and built a reclaimed water-treatment project that offers environmental benefits to Hillsborough and Tampa bays.

The Energy Department announced more than $60 million in nuclear energy research and infrastructure enhancement awards. Sixty-eight projects from across the country were selected based on their potential to create scientific breakthroughs that both help strengthen the nation's energy security and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

First Solar set a world record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) PV module conversion efficiency, achieving 18.6 percent aperture efficiency for an advanced full size module. For the first time ever, First Solar has demonstrated a record module that is more efficient than the best multi-crystalline module recorded. The record has been measured and certified by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

ABB introduced a new broadband wireless mesh router for European utilities. The new Tropos 6420 offers European utilities an alternative to service provider networks to deliver wireless communications for smart grid applications such as smart metering backhaul and distribution automation.

SunEdison signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent of Globeleq Mesoamerica Energy (GME), Central America's leading renewable energy company. SunEdison will acquire a 70 percent interest in GME from Actis, a market private equity investor focused on the energy sector, and a 30 percent interest from Mesoamerica Power Limited.