Calpine

Digest

Solar Reserve commissions 110-MW solar thermal plant with molten-salt heat storage; Minnesota Power orders 64 3-MW wind turbines from Siemens; Alstom wins contract to supply 6-MW offshore wind turbines; Itron announces subscription-based service offering; plus announcements and contracts involving SunEdison, Lockheed Martin, Washington Gas Energy Systems, and others.

Transactions (April 2014)

Calpine acquires Texas combined-cycle plant from MinnTex; FirstEnergy sells 11 hydro stations to LS Power; Alterra Power acquires 202-MW wind farm; plus deals and debt issues totaling $1.8 billion.

Calpine Completes Purchase of Guadalupe Power Plant in Texas for $625 Million

Calpine completed the acquisition of a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle power plant located in Guadalupe County, 30 miles northeast of San Antonio, Texas, in ERCOT's south zone. Calpine purchased the plant, which has a generating capacity of 1,050 MW, from MinnTex Power Holdings (a portfolio company owned by a private investment fund managed by Wayzata Investment Partners) for $625 million plus adjustments.

Transactions (January 2014)

Calpine acquires 1,050-MW combined-cycle plant in Texas; Allete buys AES wind farms; NextEra acquires Silver State solar project from First Solar; plus equity and debt deals involving EdF, Emera, First Wind, SunEdison, AEP, NV Energy and others, totaling $2.7 billion.

Digest

ABB energizes 500 MW HVDC line; MISO installs synchrophasors; Xcel plans transmission upgrades in Texas Panhandle; Panda orders power blocks from Siemens for Pennsylvania project; EdF starts operations at 110 MW solar project in Mojave Desert; plus contracts and announcements from Sensus, DTE, Calpine, PSNM, First Solar, NRG, and others.

Two New Calpine Power Plants Begin Commercial Operations in California

Calpine began commercial operations at its Russell City Energy Center and Los Esteros Critical Energy Facility, both located in the San Francisco Bay area. Together, the two plants bring on-line more than 900 MW of combined-cycle natural gas-fired power generation capacity. The full power output of both plants will be delivered to Calpine’s customer, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), which will also supply the natural gas fuel, under 10-year power purchase agreements.

Transactions (December 2012)

Entergy Mississippi to spin off its transmission business to ITC; Calpine acquires Bosque Power merchant plant in Texas; WPS acquires Fox Energy plant; E.On buys interest in Magic Valley wind farm; plus bond issues by Nstar, Western Mass. Electric, Texas Eastern Transmission, Alabama Power, and NSP totaling $1.55 billion.

Vendor Neutral

(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...

Vendor Neutral

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.