GE Power & Water's Distributed Power business signed a contract to provide Sky Global Partners (Sky Global) with its Jenbacher gas engine technology along with a 30-year contractual service agreement for a new 50-MW high-efficiency power plant in Colorado County, Texas, near San Bernard's Rock Island substation. This represents the largest North American power project for GE's Jenbacher J920 FleXtra gas engine so far.

Pattern Energy Group’s (Pattern Development or the Company) Conejo Solar photovoltaic power project in Chile has secured a 22-year PPA with an affiliate of Antofagasta Minerals SA. The 104-MW Conejo Solar project was originated by Pattern Development and upon completion will be the largest solar energy project in Chile with a PPA. Conejo Solar will connect to the Sistema Interconectado Central's (SIC) 220kV transmission system and is located on public lands owned by the government of Chile with a long-term concession.

Itron is collaborating with DTE Energy on a smart cities demonstration project in Detroit to support leading-edge smart technologies. Components of the project include mobile apps, an educational kiosk, unmanned aerial vehicles, a smart electric vehicle charging station, intelligent streetlights, water leak detection, smart metering technology and analytics. The apps help cities and citizens to better manage energy from their smartphones and online.

The TUCO-to-Woodward 345-kV transmission line between Xcel Energy's TUCO Substation was energized when a connection was made with an Oklahoma line segment built by Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OG&E). Xcel Energy built the line from TUCO to just east of the Texas-Oklahoma boundary in Beckham County, Okla. The OG&E segment connects from the Beckham County site to Woodward, Okla.

Bechtel completed the Panda Temple I Generating Station in Temple, Texas ahead of schedule. The 758-MW natural gas-fueled, combined-cycle power facility is owned by Panda Power Funds. As part of a consortium with Siemens, Bechtel provided project management, engineering, procurement, construction, and startup services, while Siemens provided the power-island package, including the natural gas and steam turbines, generators, and waste-heat-recovery boilers.

Toshiba concluded a MOU with Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) on a comprehensive partnership in geothermal power to collaborate in power generation projects and personnel development. EEP, a publicly owned utility, engages in the development of geothermal resources and the construction of power plants. Through the partnership with EEP, Toshiba will draw on its experience in geothermal systems to develop and manufacture major equipment, create operation and management guidelines, cooperate in personnel development, and start a waste heat utilization business.

Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) completed upgrades on 16 major circuits serving more than 30,000 customers in the counties of Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren. The upgrades included installing more resilient polymer fuses, adding larger 10-foot cross-arms to increase wire clearance, and installing fault indicators that help identify problem areas on a circuit which helps speed the restoration process if an outage occurs.

Bourne Energy successfully field-tested the latest version of its BackPack Power Plant (BPP) portable hydropower system in a shallow remote river in the Pacific Northwest. A zero-fuel power generator of this size (one cubic meter) producing 600 W will help renewable energy move past the low energy density, low capacity factor and high cost barriers that have slowed the growth of renewable energy.

SunEdison and BlueWave Capital completed a 1.8-MW solar power plant constructed on a remediated EPA Superfund site in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The City of New Bedford is the owner and host of the site and will purchase the net metering credits generated from the system. SunEdison partnered with BlueWave Capital to develop the project, arranged construction financing and permanent financing for the project, and managed local partners to provide EPC services.

ABB won an order worth over $30 million from Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) to supply gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) for substations to boost the reliability of transmission infrastructure in New Jersey. ABB’s order includes design, supply and commissioning of ABB’s 550 kV GIS type ELK-3, a compact and modular solution. PSE&G is spending $4 billion between 2014 and 2016 to upgrade its electricity infrastructure to meet demand for electricity.