Looking back on my 45 years in the energy sector.
Consistently setting, measuring, and updating quantitative performance metrics should be a central feature of any program.
Pacific Gas and Electric and automaker BMW are teaming up to test the ability of EV batteries to provide services to the electric grid; MidAmerican Energy completed work on four of five wind farms across Iowa that make up its Wind VIII project; GE received an order from the Tennessee Valley Authority to supply two high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas turbine generators for the new combined-cycle Allen plant; Appalachian Power plans to rebuild the existing South Bluefield-Wythe 69-kV transmission line; Bechtel partnered with Westinghouse Electric to provide decontamination and decommissioning services for nuclear power plants throughout the U.S.; SunEdison and Omnigrid Micropower signed a framework agreement to develop 5,000 rural projects, representing 250 MW of electricity, throughout India; The Tennessee Valley Authority and DuPont partnered to generate power and steam at TVA's Johnsonville site in Tennessee; and others.
AES Southland was awarded a 20-year PPA by Southern California Edison (SCE), to provide 100 MW of interconnected battery-based energy storage, a 200-MW flexible power resource. This new capacity can deliver 400 MWh of energy and will be built south of Los Angeles at the Alamitos Power Center in Long Beach, California. This selection is an outcome of SCE’s 2013 Local Capacity Requirements Request for Offer (RFO), a competitive solicitation for new power capacity in the Western Los Angeles Basin.
MidAmerican Solar and SunPower installed the one millionth photovoltaic module at the Solar Star projects, co-located in Kern and Los Angeles counties in California. When complete, the 579-MW projects will have more than 1.7 million modules installed. The first solar module was installed in March 2013. The Solar Star projects are owned by MidAmerican Solar and are being constructed by SunPower, which also will provide operations and maintenance services. Construction on the projects began in 2013 and is expected to be complete by year-end 2015.
Constellation signed an agreement with the City of Los Angeles to design, build and operate a 27-MW renewable energy power plant at L.A. Sanitation's Hyperion Treatment Plant. The new power plant, which will cost approximately $130 million to construct, will use digester gas produced at Hyperion as its primary fuel source. The power plant will produce steam and electricity that will be used to operate Hyperion's treatment operations.
Engineers and constructors adapt to serve an industry in transition.
From gas pipelines to PV arrays, the nation’s contractors are seeing growth in utility infrastructure. Fortnightly talks with executives at engineering and construction firms to learn what kinds of projects are moving forward, where they’re located, and what lies over the horizon.