Reliant Energy Power Generation Inc., a unit of Reliant Energy Inc., said it will build a 310 Mw peaking facility and a 575 Mw combined cycle base load facility in Clark County, near Primm, Nev. Both plants will be gas-fired. Reliant Energy said it expects to start construction on both facilities in September 2001, with a projected commercial operation date of June 1, 2002, for the peaking facility and June 1, 2003, for the combined cycle plant.
AES Corp. that its subsidiary AES Haripur (Private) Ltd. completed a $180 million financing for a 360 Mw gas-fired combined cycle facility near Dhaka, Bangladesh. Funding is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. The World Bank has provided a partial risk guarantee to the lead underwriter, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ), which will furnish a 13-year, $60.9 million loan for the project. AES has made an $86 million equity contribution as well as furnished a 13-year, $37 million senior sponsor facility. Electricity will be sold to the Bangladesh Power Development Board under a 22-year power purchase agreement. Titus Gas Transmission & Distribution Co. will supply the facility's gas.
Sempra Energy Trading, the wholesale energy trading subsidiary of Sempra Energy, reported it acquired 49% of Risk Capital Management Partners LLC, New York, an energy risk management and consulting firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The Union Light, Heat & Power Co., an affiliate of Cinergy Corp., said it filed notice with the Kentucky Public Service Commission (KPSC) for a rate increase to increase revenue by $7 million. Actual projected increases for each customer class have not been finalized and will be included in the full application, the company said. ULH&P also said it will spend $112 million on capital improvements, which it will seek to recover in future years. A gas main replacement program is aimed at upgrading 17% of the system that uses cast iron and bare steel pipe.
South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., a SCANA Corp. unit, reported signing a new $130 million 4-year electricity supply agreement with the Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities. The new agreement, which will be filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for final approval, calls for SCE&G to supply Orangeburg DPU an initial capacity of 153 Mw/day of electricity.
Sweden's Graninge AB and Narvarme Sverige AB reported jointly purchasing all the shares of the municipally owned energy company Norrtalje Energi AB, NEAB. Graninge acquired the transmission networks and electricity sales business, with annual power turnover of 240 Gw-hr and 14,000 customers, while Narvarme has acquired the district heating business, with 125 Gw-hr and broadband operations. The purchase price of 201 million kroner plus redemption of the company's loans will provide the municipality with total proceeds of 400 million kroner.
Reliant Energy Services, a unit of Reliant Energy Inc., selected Tibco Software Inc. to automate settlement and straight through processing of on line energy sales and purchases, and to give its employees on line real-time access to the energy trading process, Tibco said. Tibco's technology will automate Reliant's energy sales and purchase process by linking Reliant's on line energy trading software applications to its internal enterprise systems. Separately, El Paso Corp. selected Tibco automate its energy delivery process, and its procurement process, Tibco said.
Dynamis Inc., Sanger., Calif., filed a lawsuit in Fresno Superior Court seeking payment from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) for over $3 million for past deliveries of power. Dyamis also asked to suspend its electric power purchase agreement to allow Dynamis to sell power on the open market. Dynamis, a natural gas-fired cogeneration facility, said it was forced to shut down operations in February after PG&E paid it only a small portion of the amounts due for the deliveries that Dynamis made in December 2000 and January 2001.
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) said it contracted with Constellation Energy Source, a unit of Constellation Energy Group Inc., to develop an energy savings program incorporating all major WSSC facilities, systems, equipment, and operations. The contract includes a $100,000 study that will identify ways WSSC can reduce energy-related operations and maintenance costs. WSSC is among the 10 largest water and wastewater utilities in the nation, serving 1.6 million customers in Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties.
Calpine Power America LP, an affiliate of Calpine Corp., said it has received certification as a retail service provider in Texas, allowing the company offer services to a full range of wholesale and retail customers. Calpine Power America said it will sell to large industrials, in addition to municipalities, cooperatives, and investor-owned utilities. Calpine Power America also will sell electricity to the retail consumer through bilateral contracts.
Automated Power Exchange Inc. (APX) said it acquired Norwegian power broker M3 Kraft, making APX one of the largest global electricity exchanges, second in volume only to NordPool. The acquisition of M3 Kraft, which matched more than 250 Tw-hr last year, coincides with the opening of APX's London spot market. The acquisition will also give APX a trading foothold Germany. The acquisition was made through a stock and cash for stock transaction. Terms were not disclosed.
Saudi Arabia has awarded a multimillion, multiphased contract to the consulting firm Arthur D. Little, to advise on the restructuring and commercialization of its electric utility Saudi Electric Co., the Middle East's largest. The utility has 20,000 Mw of generating capacity, more than 17,000 km of transmission lines, and 200,000 km of distribution lines. Saudi Arabia said it is hopeful commercialization of its electric utility will attract foreign energy companies, bringing billions of dollars of investment in new power facilities over the next 20 years.
Thailand's SG Asia Credit Securities (SGACS), part of French banking group Societe Generale, closed a two-tranche 3 billion baht unsecured debenture issue for Banpu PLC, one of Thailand's largest coal mining and power concerns. The proceeds of the transaction will be used in part to acquire additional coal reserves in Indonesia, Banpu's existing base, and to invest further in the firm's power businesses in Thailand.
France's TotalFinaElf SA said it plans to invest around 13 million euros in a pilot wind project to be installed on its Dunkirk refinery site in northern France. The project, which involves five wind generators, would be a preview for a subsequent offshore 100 Mw installation. The project falls within the framework of the French government's stated target of installing 3 000-5 000 Mw by 2010 in France, 100 times existing capacity.