NB Power awarded a contract to ABB to upgrade to the Eel River high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter station, located near Dalhousie, New Brunswick. The bidirectional station transfers up to 350 MW and is one of two facilities allowing power exchange between New Brunswick and Quebec, providing access to Maritime and New England markets.
Sempra U.S. Gas & Power sold one 625-MW block of its 1,250-MW Mesquite gas-fired power plant to Salt River Project (SRP) for $371 million. In addition to 100-percent ownership of the 625-MW power block, SRP gained a 50-percent undivided interest in plant facilities. Sempra retains ownership of the power plant’s remaining 625-MW power block and 50-percent interest in the plant facilities. As part of the transaction, Salt River Project will become the operator of the Mesquite facility.
Dominion acquired a solar energy development project from Smart Energy Capital and Jacoby Development. The Azalea facility, planned near Augusta in east-central Georgia, is expected to produce approximately 7.7 MW (AC) using photovoltaic technology. Dominion plans to select a contractor and oversee the construction of the project, which is expected to sell power to Cobb Electric Membership Corp. under a 25-year agreement, starting in December 2013. Financial details weren’t disclosed.
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) conducted test flights in Alabama of prototype unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and payloads of video and other sensing equipment to demonstrate that such “drone” technology could be deployed to assess damage to electric transmission and distribution systems following storms. EPRI tested an Aeryon Scout and the Adaptive Flight Hornet Maxi, two rotary winged devices at altitudes under 100 feet, carrying payloads that weighed less than 55 pounds.
Landsnet, the Icelandic transmission system operator, awarded $10 million order to ABB to supply a high-voltage submarine and underground power-cable system that will transport electricity from the mainland to the volcanic island of Heimaey. The new 72-kV line will replace an existing cable that is approaching the end of its operating life. The 17.5-km line will include a 13-km submarine section, a 4.5-km underground section, and an integrated fiber-optic cable for telecommunications and temperature monitoring.
Cupertino Electric is installing a new 230-kV transmission line to interconnect a new substation serving a 200-MW photovoltaic power plant in Imperial Valley, Calif. When complete in late 2013, the overhead line will span five miles and interconnect a new 230-kV substation on the 2,000-acre solar project site in California’s Imperial Valley.
ClearEdge Power, a manufacturer of scalable, distributed power systems, has closed on its acquisition of UTC Power, the fuel-cell production subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.
Lower Yellowstone Rural Electric Association signed an agreement to deploy Gridstream PLX, Landis+Gyr’s power line carrier system for advanced metering and grid management. L+G says Gridstream PLX provides greater data capacity than legacy PLC systems, for delivering 15-minute interval data continuously from each meter on the network. Sidney, Mt.-based Lower Yellowstone REA is a cooperative serving residents of northeastern Montana and parts of North Dakota. The deployment is scheduled to begin this spring.
Southern California Edison (SCE) and GE are collaborating to put the smart grid to work by upgrading and modernizing the utility’s infrastructure. The project will include electric-distribution infrastructure, substations, residential homes, cyber security systems, battery energy storage, and EV charging stations at the University of California-Irvine, and other products that affect the reliability of a modernized grid. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the demonstration project will launch on June 30, 2013.
Wood Group GTS upgraded the controls system on a GE LM6000 gas turbine at Jonesboro, (Ark.) City Water and Light’s (CWL) northwest combustion turbine site. Wood Group GTS has replaced the original controls with an open-architecture system that will enable CWL to access and configure the turbine to meet fluctuating power demands.