Dominion acquired a 20-MW solar facility in California from E.ON North America. The facility is expected to enter service in the second quarter of 2015. Alamo Solar is located in San Bernardino County near Helendale, Calif. It has secured a 20-year PPA and an interconnection agreement. Financial details were not disclosed.
Siemens will supply 65 wind turbines and 67 transformers for the Amazon Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge). The customer for this onshore project in Indiana is Pattern Energy. With a capacity of 150 MW, the wind power plant will provide Amazon Web Services' data center with eco-friendly electricity. Installation is scheduled to begin in July. Commissioning is planned for the first quarter of 2016. Siemens will also be providing long-term service for the wind turbines.
Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon, and the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) began construction of a 5.1-MW solar generation project in Baltimore County. The solar power system, spread among the college's three main campuses in Dundalk, Essex and Catonsville, is expected to generate enough electricity to meet approximately 27 percent of the college's electricity needs. Constellation will also install 10 duplex electric vehicle charging stations as part of the project.
ALLETE Clean Energy (ACE) agreed to acquire 100 percent of AES Armenia Mountain Wind, (Armenia Mountain) a 100.5-MW wind facility near Troy, Pa., from AES and a non-controlling interest from a minority shareholder for a total of $108 million, plus the assumption of existing debt. ACE had an option to purchase the Armenia Mountain facility, which was exercised on April 1; a purchase agreement with AES was signed April 30. Closing is expected in July 2015. All the facility's energy output is sold through existing PPAs that extend through 2025.
Con Edison Development, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, acquired six solar photovoltaic projects totaling 140 MW from a PV project portfolio developed through a joint venture between SolarReserve, LLC, and GCL Solar Energy, Inc. (GCL). Ranging in size from 20 MW to 25 MW, the projects acquired by Con Edison Development are located in Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties and have the capacity to power approximately 25,000 homes. The projects are all fully permitted, with interconnection agreements in place.
BHE Renewables, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, announced plans to construct a 400-MW wind farm in Holt County, Nebraska - the largest wind energy project in the state's history. The project will increase Nebraska's wind energy capacity by nearly 50 percent and represents the first project in the state for BHE Renewables. BHE Renewables plans to begin construction at Grande Prairie this summer with completion scheduled for the end of 2016.
NextEra Energy Partners completed its previously announced agreement to acquire approximately 664 MW of operating renewable power generation assets from the sponsor, NextEra Energy Resources. The additional facilities include: Ashtabula Wind III, a 62.4-MW wind generating facility located in Barnes County, N.D.; Baldwin, a 102.4-MW wind generating facility located in Burleigh County, N.D.; Mammoth Plains, a 198.9-MW wind generating facility located in Dewey and Blaine Counties, Okla.; and Stateline, a 300-MW wind generating facility located on the border of
DTE Energy partnered with Domino's Farms and Ford Motor Company to build and operate the two largest solar arrays in Michigan. DTE Energy has begun construction of a 1.1-MW photovoltaic solar installation at Domino's Farms, just east of Ann Arbor, which will be completed and operational by the end of the year. The solar installation will have capacity to generate 1,089 kilowatts of electricity.
Mississippi Power partnered with two solar businesses and the U.S. Navy to build utility-scale solar electric generating farms at two different locations in the company's service territory. With a combined total of approximately 53 MW, together these projects would represent the largest solar installations in Mississippi. Mississippi Power and Strata Solar, a turnkey solar provider, are working to develop a 50-MW solar project located on 450 acres at Hattiesburg-Forrest County Industrial Park located near Hattiesburg.
Phoenix Energy's joint venture, North Fork Community Power's project was awarded a $4.9 million grant. The award will be used to construct one of the first forest-sourced biomass gasification plants, as well as research into the field of forest biomass utilization. The plant will utilize local forest biomass sustainably sourced from restoration and fuel reduction activities on local forest lands, including the Sierra National Forest.