PacifiCorp and the California Independent System Operator Corporation (CAISO) entered a memorandum of understanding that commits the two largest grid operators in the western United States to work toward creating a real-time energy imbalance market (EIM) by October 2014. If implemented, PacifiCorp – which controls two balancing authorities primarily covering portions of six states, including part of Northern California – would participate in a co-optimized real-time energy market facilitated by the ISO. The joint agreement applies only to the EIM service.

Progress Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, will retire the Crystal River nuclear plant in Citrus County, Fla. The company is reviewing alternatives to replace the power produced by the unit, including the potential construction of a new natural gas-fueled plant. The nuclear unit, which began operating in 1977, was shut down in the fall of 2009 for refueling and replacement of its steam generators when a delamination was discovered in the outer layer of the containment building’s concrete wall.

NRG Solar started commercial operations for the Alpine solar generating station, a 66-MW (AC) photovoltaic (PV) facility, which NRG says is the largest fully operational solar plant in California. The station’s output will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a 20-year agreement.

ABB won an order worth around $260 million from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to upgrade the existing Celilo HVDC (high-voltage direct current) converter station in Oregon. This station is part of the electricity link between the Pacific Northwest and Southern California commissioned in 1970. The Celilo converter station is located at the north end of the Pacific DC Intertie, also known as Path 65, which has a capacity of 3,100 MW, and originates near the Columbia River. The order was booked in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Echelon was selected to provide smart grid systems for the Smart Grid Gotland project, a large-scale, technology demonstration on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The project is sponsored by a joint venture between Vattenfall, Gotland Energy, ABB, Swedish National Grid, Schneider Electric, and the Royal Institute of Technology, and and is partly financed by the Swedish Energy Agency. Echelon will provide its edge control node, its control operating system (COS) -based application platform, and 3,000 advanced grid sensors, which also provide smart metering functionality.

IBM was selected to operate Independent Electricity System Operator Ontario’s meter data management and repository (MDM/R) system with new computing infrastructure and an updated operating environment. The five-year, $68.5 million contract includes options to extend to seven or 10 years. Under the agreement, IBM will develop the overall performance of the MDM/R through new computing and networking infrastructure, disaster recovery capabilities, and operational improvements to reduce risk and costs.