Department of Energy
Sacramento Municipal Utility District Awarded $600,000 Federal Grid Resilience Grant
Submitted by aburr on Tue, 2015-08-18 17:01The Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) $600,000 to install smart-grid technologies. The Grid Resilience Grant helps fund half of SMUD's $1.2 million Resilient Grid Initiative that is designed to make SMUD's distribution system more adaptable to major disasters and reduce the effects of climate change through the installation and operation of high-voltage switches and the implementation and operation of voltage optimization measures.
Digest (April 2015)
PG&E asked state regulators for permission to build ~ 25,000 EV chargers across its service area in Northern and Central California - if approved, it would mark the largest deployment of EV charging stations in the country; Lockheed Martin and Dominion Resources have co-developed a new smart grid technology called VirtuGrid to enable remote detection of power outages for faster mapping and response; Panda Power Funds and Sunbury Generation LP will develop, finance, construct and operate a 1,000-MW gas-fired, combined-cycle power project in Pennsylvania; Siemens secured an order of 157 wind turbines in South Africa from Mainstream Renewable Power; PSE&G recently put two new landfill solar farms in service as part of its Solar 4 All program; Exelon Generation will add 195-MW of electric generation capacity at the Medway (Mass.) facility; ABB won a $35 million order for gas-insulated switchgear and shunt reactors from Belgian electricity transmission system operator Elia; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed publicly traded company; Chesapeake Utilities agreed to merge Gatherco into Aspire Energy of Ohio, a wholly-owned subsidiary; and others...
Ormat’s McGinness Hills Phase 2 Geothermal Power Plant Begins Commercial Operation
Submitted by aburr on Thu, 2015-02-12 13:37Ormat Technologies’ second phase of its McGinness Hills geothermal power plant located in Lander County, Nevada has begun commercial operation. Since February 1, 2015, the complex sells electricity under the amended PPA with NV Energy through December 2032. The second phase broke ground on March 2014 following resource confirmation and excellent performance of the first phase of McGinness Hills, which had been operational since June 2012.
GE, Utility, Government, and Academia Partner on Underground Microgrid Project to Improve Electricity Reliability in NY’s North Country
Submitted by aburr on Fri, 2014-12-12 14:21GE Global Research and GE Energy Consulting, along with National Grid, the Department of Energy (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Clarkson University announced a partnership on a research project to improve the reliability and resiliency of electricity delivery in northern New York.
Fueling America's Economic Engine
New energy economy also relies on some old fossil friends.
Siemens Wins Contract to Help United States Geological Survey Achieve Energy Savings
Submitted by aburr on Fri, 2014-09-05 12:35Siemens Government Technologies was awarded an $11 million task order by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to implement energy conservation measures at three of its facilities: National Center (Reston, Virginia); Columbia Environmental Research Center (Columbia, Missouri); and the Western Fisheries Research Center (Seattle, Washington).
Digest (Sept 2014)
Digest (August 2014)
Energy Department Offers Conditional Commitment to Cape Wind Offshore Wind Project
Submitted by aburr on Wed, 2014-07-09 12:58The Department of Energy (DOE) took the first step toward issuing a $150 million loan guarantee to support the construction of the Cape Wind offshore wind project with a conditional commitment to Cape Wind Associates. If constructed, the project would be the first commercial-scale offshore wind facility in the U.S., with a capacity of more than 360 MW of clean energy off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.