[BETA] Fortnightly

Zond Development Corp. will supply MidAmerican Energy Co. with 45 MW of wind-generated power per month for 20 years. Terms of the agreement were not released, but Zond will begin supplying energy within three years of regulatory approval. The contract helps fulfill the utility's alternate energy requirements under Iowa law. Zond will generate the power from about 150 wind turbines planned for Buena Vista County. The windmills will interconnect with the MidAmerican transmission system at a nearby substation.

The Georgia Public Service Commission approved Catula Generating Co.'s plans to either resell power to Georgia Power or produce its own electric by building the state's first "independent" power plant. Catula, an affiliate of U.S. Generating Co., will supply capacity at 100-percent availability and will dispatch energy based on Georgia Power's requirements. Catula, however, has made it clear that it intends to build a plant to become a competitor in the wholesale power market (em right in line for the anticipated restructuring of the state's marketplace in 2001 or 2002. Operational in 2000, the plant would provide at least 215 MW.

Itron Inc. signed two agreements that better its place in the automatic meter reading market. A contract with Missouri Gas Energy, a division of Southern Union Gas Co., calls for Itron to install 470,000 meter modules over 16 months. Itron also signed a "master agreement" for AMR services with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Under the agreement's terms, Itron may submit proposals that meet "established economic criteria." PG&E will review the proposals, then decide whether to negotiate for specific projects.

Destec Energy contracted Westinghouse Electric Corp. to maintain two Westinghouse 501D5A combustion turbines for 15 years. The turbines are at the Los Mina Power Plant in the Dominican Republic. Both units went into operation last year. Terms of the agreement were not released.

What is claimed to be the world's first operational high-temperature superconducting distribution transformer was connected to the power supply network in Geneva, Switzerland. The transformer, designed and built by Asea Brown Boveri, puts out 630 kVAs and converts power from 18.7 kV to 420 volts. It will power the headquarters of SIG, the city's electric utility, through the end of the year. The transformer's wires were developed and made by American Superconductor Corp. American Superconductor also announced that with two New Zealand partners it launched a new electromagnet. It's the first large-scale magnet to use high-temperature superconductivity in a commercial application. Developed with Alphatech International and Industrial Research Ltd., the ion beam transport magnet replaces a conventional magnet attached to a particle accelerator at the New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science. t

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