Constellation and EdF transfer nuclear licenses to Exelon for $400 million; NRG closes $244 million acquisition of Gregory cogen plant in Texas; Vivint Solar secures $200 million for rooftop solar leases; Virginia Power floats $585 million in bonds; Southern Company issues $700 million; plus equity deals totaling $844 million and debt issues totaling $3.635 billion.
Phoenix Solar signed a contract with Silicon Ranch to build the Simon Solar Farm, 38.6-MW, 161 acre solar plant in Georgia. Under the terms of the contract, Phoenix Solar will provide all engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) support for the solar park. Georgia Power, the state's largest electrical utility, will buy the electricity generated from the solar park under a 20-year PPA with Silicon Ranch. Construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013.
Georgia Power added 53.5 MW of new biomass capacity to the company's generation portfolio. The addition of the biomass capacity is made possible through a 20-year purchase power agreement (PPA) with Rollcast Energy, under which Georgia Power will receive all generation output of the newly completed Piedmont Green Power plant, located in Barnesville, Ga.
Abengoa and BrightSource Energy agreed to jointly develop, build, and operate what the companies say will be the world’s two largest solar power towers. GE began operating a prototype of what it calls the world’s most efficient high-output wind turbine. Hawaiian Electric Co. dedicated the new 5-MW Kalaeloa solar farm in West Oahu, Hawaii. And more...
Georgia Power completed placing basemat structural concrete for the nuclear island at its Vogtle Unit 3 nuclear project. The utility is building two new reactors at the Plant Vogtle site near Waynesboro, Ga. The full outlines of both nuclear islands have been completed to grade level. The first components for erecting the Unit 3 containment vessel are completed and staged for installation once the basemat concrete has cured, including the Unit 3 containment vessel bottom head.
Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, chose 3M’s ACCR overhead conductor to double transmission capacity on a set of lines that cross wetlands near Savannah, Ga. The upgrade is on a 16.7-mile line linking the Kraft generating plant in Savannah with the McIntosh plant north of the city.
NSTAR appoints new president; Southern Company names new financial management team; BPA gets new administrator; plus management changes at AEP, Duke, ITC, ConEdison, GDF Suez, ERCOT, MISO, NARUC, and others.
(December2012) KC Electric Association expects soon to finalize installing a Sensus FlexNet network and iCon A electric meters to serve about 4,000 residential and small commercial members across a 5,000-square-mile territory in rural Colorado. Itron and C3 Energy formed an alliance to integrate and jointly market an energy management solution to North American utilities. And others...
Calpine signs PPA with Public Service Company of Oklahoma; TransCanada and Ontario PowerAuthority agree to develop 900-MW gas-fired power plant; Panda selects Siemens to build combined-cycle plant; Progress Energy retires coal plants dating from 1923; Southern Company and Turner acquire 30-MW PV project; PSO begins smart meter pilot rollout; Southern California Edison contracts with Corix to install smart meters; Iberdrola USA hires Burns and McDonnell to review grid infrastructure. Plus contracts and announcements from Itron, eMeter, Echelon, Quanta Services, DNV, Metadigm, Landis+Gyr, and others.
Exelon sells plants in Maryland and Cali; Mitsui buys into Viridity; Duke issues $1.2B; plus deals at TVA, Xcel, PG&E, etc. totaling $4.9B.