...in part because their developers need time to figure out for which federal programs their projects qualify, and what constitute the “Buy American” provision of ARRA, Davis-Bacon Act and other requirements.

Still, “There is a great interest in renewable energy, driven by the federal government’s involvement” in providing loan guarantees, extending the production tax credits and investment tax credits, and other incentives, says Moore.

Lauren E&C in March landed one of the nation’s biggest renewable energy projects in recent years, a 75-MW, concentrating solar powerplant (CSP) being developed by Florida Power & Light at a site in Martin County, Fla. The pace of CSP development in the U.S. has been accelerating. Although only two utility-scale CSP facilities are now operating in the U.S., several thousand megawatts in CSP projects have been proposed this year. The California Energy Commission alone is reviewing CSP proposals for more than 6,700 MW.

The Florida plant, which will be the largest CSP facility outside of California, will use parabolic trough technology incorporating about 200,000 parabolic mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy to heat a fluid and generate steam. The steam will augment the output of an existing gas-fired combined-cycle plant located nearby.

“Everyone who is looking at solar projects in the U.S. is talking to us,” claims William King, Lauren E&C executive vice president, noting that his company in 2007 also built the 64-MW Nevada Solar One plant.

Wind-farm construction continues, albeit at a slower pace than in 2008 or 2007. Weak electricity demand has slowed the pace of utility solicitations for wind power and securing financing for wind farms has become increasingly difficult, firms say. Additionally, transmission congestion in some areas has made it tougher to deliver wind power to population centers.

One niche that shows real promise is small-scale combined-heat-and-power projects, says Joseph Jingoli, CEO at Joseph Jingoli & Son, an engineering and construction firm in Lawrenceville, N.J. “We are working on several” such projects, he says, explaining that owners of large, power-hungry facilities such as prisons, commercial complexes and factories increasingly find that plants that provide power, steam and chilling on-site offer the best long-term value.

Perhaps the strongest and surest sector in the U.S. power industry right now is transmission. Karl Miller, executive manager of the power group at Kenny Construction Co., Northbrook, Ill., says transmission projects are being planned, designed and built in every part of the country to reduce grid congestion, improve reliability, replace aging lines and prepare for the delivery of wind and solar power from remote areas.

Among Kenny’s major projects is assisting in development of the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line [TrAIL], a 179-mile, 500-kV line through southwestern Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and northern Virginia. Miller says TrAIL and other planned lines will enable utilities to make fuller use of their most efficient and cleanest generating capacity.

The biggest concentration of new transmission projects is in the Great Plains, where tens of thousands of megawatts in new wind capacity is likely to be developed, and in the desert Southwest, where solar power has the most potential. Without major lines to connect that renewable energy to load centers like Chicago and Los Angeles, the nation’s quest for a cleaner energy future would be dashed.