Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, ConEdison Development Partner in Additional Solar Projects

Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and Consolidated Edison Development (ConEdison Development) partnered in five solar projects in Nevada and California. The projects include Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's 250-MW Copper Mountain Solar 3 project near Las Vegas, and ConEdison Development's CED California Holdings portfolio: the 50-MW Alpaugh 50, 20-MW Alpaugh North and 20-MW White River 1 facilities in Tulare County, and the 20-MW Corcoran 1 facility in Kings County. The renewable power from all of the projects has been sold under long-term contracts.

SunEdison Completes 24 MW Cascade Solar Power Plant

SunEdison completed construction of a 24 MW solar power plant located in the California Desert. The Cascade solar power plant will supply renewable electricity to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) through a 20-year PPA that was awarded under the California Renewable Auction Mechanism (RAM). The 150-acre solar power plant is comprised of more than 75,000 SunEdison Silvantis Monocrystalline Solar PV Modules mounted to SunEdison AP90 Single Axis Trackers.

ABB Wins $45 Million Order to Strengthen Swedish Power Grid

ABB won orders worth $45 million from Svenska kraftnät, the Swedish National Grid operator, to supply three 400 kV substation to strengthen the Swedish power grid. The substations are scheduled to be commissioned in 2015. ABB's project scope includes the design and supply of engineered packages for the high-voltage air-insulated switchgear (AIS) substations.

Planned NRG and Edison Mission Energy Merger Receives FERC Approval

NRG Energy and Edison Mission Energy (EME) jointly announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the sale of substantially all of EME's assets to NRG. The acquisition of EME's portfolio of renewable and conventional generation assets will create the second-largest US power company. EME will add nearly 8,000 MW of generating capacity to the combined company's diverse portfolio of both conventional and wind generation facilities. The transaction closed on April 1, 2014.

FERC Issues Pilot License For Tidal Project in Puget Sound

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a 10-year pilot license to Public Utility District No. 1 Snohomish County for the proposed Admiralty Inlet Pilot Tidal Project to be located in the Puget Sound. The 600-kW Admiralty Inlet Project is an experimental project designed to determine whether commercial development of the tidal energy resources of Puget Sound is commercially viable. The license authorizes Public Utility District No. 1 to study, monitor, and evaluate the environmental, economic, and cultural effects of hydrokinetic energy.