Panda Power Funds intends to build, own and operate an 859-MW combined-cycle power plant in Brandywine, Maryland. The Mattawoman plant will also be a “zero-liquid-discharge” plant, returning no waste water to a treatment facility and subsequently prevents the discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. Construction of the Mattawoman project will take approximately 30 months and is dependent upon financing, regulatory approvals and other conditions.

Siemens received an order from the U.S. for the delivery of two power plant blocks for the Liberty combined cycle power plant in Pennsylvania. Siemens will deliver two H-class gas turbines, two steam turbines, two generators, two heat recovery steam generators as well as the electrical equipment and the control system. The EPC contractor is Gemma Power Systems. The customer is an affiliate of Panda Power Funds. The order includes a long-term service agreement and has a total value for Siemens of approximately $400 million.

Siemens Energy received an order from Portland General Electric for the supply and installation of 116 wind turbines. The wind turbines, each with a rating of 2.3 MW and a rotor diameter of 108 meters, are to be installed at the Tucannon River Wind Farm in Washington state. Siemens will be responsible for service for the wind turbines over a period of five years.

DTE Gas, a subsidiary of DTE Energy, is providing pipeline-quality natural gas, which was converted from landfill gas, to its residential customers. DTE Gas' BioGreenGas program contributes to the development of that pipeline-quality natural gas at the Sauk Trail Hills landfill in Canton, Mich. Clean Energy Renewable Fuels (CERF), a division of Clean Energy Fuels, develops U.S. production facilities that generate and sell renewable natural gas. CERF created a plant to purify the biogas at Sauk Trail Hills landfill.

EDF Renewable Energy put the 143 MWp (110 MWac) Catalina Solar Project, located in California’s Mojave Desert, into commercial operation. The solar project is comprised of 82 MWp Solar Frontier and 61 MWp First Solar PV modules. EDF Renewable Services will provide operations and maintenance services. The project’s energy is provided to San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) under a 25-year PPA.

Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, received approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to build the majority of its nearly 400-mile, approximately $1.1 billion Illinois Rivers transmission project. The project consists of a new 345-kV transmission line crossing the Mississippi River near Quincy, Ill., and continuing east across Illinois to the Indiana border.

NRG Energy acquired Energy Curtailment Specialists (ECS), one of the largest, private demand response providers in North America. ECS offers business customers ways to contribute to energy load reduction during times of peak demand. Energy Curtailment Specialists currently manages more than 2,000 MW of demand response across the country for over 5,000 customers.

NRG Energy closed on the acquisition of the Gregory cogeneration plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. NRG paid approximately $244 million in cash for the plant, exclusive of adjustments relating to working capital. The Gregory cogeneration plant provides steam, processed water and a small percentage of its electrical generation to the Corpus Christi Sherwin Alumina plant. The majority of the base-load generation is available for sale in ERCOT. The current operator, DPS Gregory, will continue to operate the plant until a transition to NRG operations is completed.