Phoenix Energy signed agreements to build and operate a biomass gasification plant near Lake Tahoe, California. The 2-MW plant will utilize forest biomass from Placer County's fire threat reduction activities to make electricity, heat and biochar - a solid carbon byproduct that is used as a soil conditioner and filter media. The plant will be the first to use forest-based fuel in California. The Lake Tahoe project is Phoenix Energy's third biomass gasification plant in state and when fully operational it will be the company's largest plant.

JinkoSolar Holding Co. successfully connected its 24MW solar PV power plant in Xinyi, Jiangsu Province and 15MW solar PV power plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province to the grid. The company has so far successfully connected to the grid for more than 252 MW of solar PV power projects. The 24MW Xinyi and 15MW Lianyungang power plants were granted blended 20-year subsidies of 1.125 RMB/KWh and 1.1 RMB/KWh, respectively, including subsidies from the local government. Both locations are among areas with the highest insolation level in Jiangsu Province. 

Siemens Canada expanded its wind power footprint, in partnership with Algonquin Power & Utilities, to supply, deliver and commission ten direct drive SWT-2.3-113 wind turbines for the Morse Project. The 23-MW project will be located in southern Saskatchewan near Morse, 60 km from Swift Current. The technology of the SWT-2.3-113 benefits from the experiences of 250 gearless Siemens wind turbines in operation. Construction of the wind farm is expected to begin in summer 2014, with commercial operation expected by early next year.

IKEA made its first wind farm investment in the United States with the purchase of 98-MW Hoopeston Wind in Hoopeston, Illinois. The project is currently being constructed by Apex Clean Energy and is expected to be fully operational by the first half of 2015. The Hoopeston Wind project will install 49 Vestas V100-2.0 MW wind turbines near Hoopeston in Vermilion County, Illinois, approximately 110 miles south of Chicago.

Energen signed a definitive stock purchase agreement to sell its natural gas utility business, Alabama Gas Corporation (Alagasco), to The Laclede Group. The value of the transaction is $1.6 billion, subject to customary closing adjustments, and is comprised of $1.28 billion in cash and approximately $320 million of debt. Energen's after-tax proceeds are estimated to be $1.1 billion, after consideration of accelerated intangible drilling costs.

Accenture and Siemens completed the formation of a joint venture company called OMNETRIC Group. OMNETRIC Group will bring together Siemens' smart grid products and solutions; Accenture's management and technology consulting, systems integration and managed-services capabilities.

Car Charging Group, through its partnership with City Park, has expanded the availability of EV charging services at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Garage in San Francisco. CarCharging originally deployed EV charging services at the MOMA Garage in 2013 and over the past year, the demand for EV fueling has continued to expand. The charging stations have been consistently utilized, which demonstrates the need for additional public EV charging infrastructure.

The Energy Storage Association (ESA) began engaging directly in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) stakeholder driven market redesign process. The Texas Energy Storage Alliance (TESA) had convened a group of industry members to work collaboratively; that effort has now been folded into the larger national organization. ESA is the forum for broad industry input that will ensure proposed rules will enable the advancement of utility scale energy storage technologies.