New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo awarded $3.3 million to seven research teams to develop technologies that add resiliency and efficiency to New York State's electric grid.
SunEdison acquired the 156-MW Comanche Solar project from renewable energy developer Community Energy. SunEdison is partnered with Community Energy to complete the final development stage of the project by structuring the financing and providing procurement expertise for the project, following which SunEdison will manage the construction, operation, and maintenance of the solar power plant. Construction will begin in 2015 with commercial operation targeted for early 2016.
AEP Energy began installation of a 101-kW solar array on the roof of The Ohio State University's Student Life Recreation and Physical Activities Center (RPAC). AEP Energy will fund, build, own and operate the approximately 10,000-square-foot array, made up of 367 solar panels. The solar array is valued at approximately $400,000, and the electricity produced by the array – approximately 116,000 kWh annually – will be supplied to Ohio State at a rate of $.04 per kWh throughout the next eight years.
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District obtained a 50-year renewal to operate its hydroelectric projects on the upper American River. The utility operates 11 reservoirs and eight powerhouses in the upper American, which generate 688 MW of electricity, representing about 15 percent of SMUD’s annual power. Part of the new license from FERC calls for SMUD to make some changes. The utility will make several recreational upgrades to reservoirs and it will increase the volume of water it releases into streams.
SheerWind announced field tests of multiple turbines used in a row or series has even greater electrical power output. The INVELOX system, a new concept in wind power generation, is a large funnel that captures, concentrates, and accelerates wind before delivering it to turbines located at ground level. By placing 2 turbines in a series in an INVELOX system, power showed an increase of 1.7X when compared to single turbine.
Duke Energy Progress (Duke) and the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) approved an agreement for Duke to purchase the Power Agency’s ownership in certain generating assets. NCEMPA currently maintains partial ownership interest in several Duke Energy Progress plants, totaling approximately 700 MW, including: Brunswick Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2, Mayo Plant, Roxboro Plant Unit 4 and the Harris Nuclear Plant.
Minnesota Power, a utility division of ALLETE, reached a settlement agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency that resolves alleged violations of the new source review provisions of the Clean Air Act. The agreement does not include any admission of wrongdoing on the part of the company Minnesota Power is one of many utility companies in the U.S. whose investments in electric generation facilities were reviewed as part of the EPA's Coal-Fired Power Plant Enforcement Initiative that began in 1999.
The Keeyask Hydropower Limited Partnership (KHLP) broke ground on the 695-MW Keeyask Generating Station in northern Manitoba. The project is a collaborative effort between Manitoba Hydro and four Manitoba First Nations - Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake First Nation, York Factory First Nation, and Fox Lake Cree Nation - working together as the KHLP. Manitoba Hydro provides administration and management services for KHLP and will own at least 75 per cent of the equity of the partnership.
Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group (B&W PGG) was awarded a contract to design and manufacture two coal-fired boilers to be installed in the Punta Catalina Power Plant for Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas Estatales (CDEEE) in the Dominican Republic. The contract, booked in the second quarter of 2014, was awarded by Italian engineering and procurement contractor Tecnimont S.p.A, which is developing the project as part of a consortium which includes Tecnimont, Constructora Norberto Odebrecht S.A. and Ingeniera Estrella S.r.l.