Alstom signed a €250 million contract with Metals & Engineering Corp. (METEC) to supply turbines and generators for the hydro power plant of the Grand Renaissance dam, located on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. Alstom will supply and supervise the installation of all electromechanical equipment for the plant, including eight 375 MW turbines and eight generators for the first phase. The contract also includes engineering and power plant commissioning, scheduled to start in late 2013 and finish in 2016.

Alliant subsidiary Wisconsin Power & Light (WPL) closed on its purchase of the Riverside Energy Center, a 600-MW combined-cycle, natural gas-fired power plant in Beloit, Wisc. WPL purchased the plant from Calpine for approximately $400 million.

Progress Energy Canada selected TransCanada to design, build, own, and operate the proposed $5 billion Prince Rupert gas transmission project. The proposed pipeline will carry natural gas primarily from the North Montney gas-producing region near Fort St. John, B.C., to the Pacific Northwest liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Port Edward near Prince Rupert, B.C. Progress and TransCanada expect to finalize definitive agreements in early 2013.  

Sempra U.S. Gas & Power completed construction of Mesquite Solar 1, the first 150-MW phase of the company’s Mesquite Solar complex in Arlington, Ariz., about 40 miles west of Phoenix. The photovoltaic (PV) solar energy project now is operational and ranks among the largest in the United States.

Duke Energy Renewables completed construction of a 12.5-MW solar power project in Beaufort County, N.C. North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) is purchasing the output under a 15-year agreement. Duke contracted with SunEnergy1, a solar design, engineering and construction company based in Mooresville, N.C., to build the 53,000-panel photovoltaic (PV) project. SunEnergy1 designed the solar array and will continue to handle operations, monitoring, and maintenance of the system. 

EDF Renewable Energy, formerly enXco, started operations at the 150-MW Bobcat Bluff wind project in Archer County, 20 miles south of Wichita Falls, Texas. The project, consisting of 100 GE 1.5-MW turbines, spans about 12,500 contiguous acres. EDF Renewable Services will operate and maintain the facility, while EDF Trading provides energy management services and acts as the qualified scheduling entity. EDF Renewable Energy acquired the project in March 2012 and began construction in April.

Pattern Energy’s Ocotillo wind project in Southern California began commercial operation, transmitting energy to the Sunrise Powerlink, a newly constructed 117-mile 500-kv transmission line connecting San Diego and the Imperial Valley. The 265-MW Ocotillo project in Imperial Valley has 94 turbines now operational. An additional 18 turbines are expected to be installed in the spring of 2013. San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) will buy the output under a 20-year agreement.

Caterpillar will develop a turnkey power plant using 10 Cat G16CM34 natural gas generator sets, for Alberta Newsprint Co. (ANC) in Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada. Caterpillar’s medium-speed, reciprocating engine generator sets will provide ANC with 65 MW of total output capacity, making it Caterpillar’s largest power plant installation in Canada.