Uncertainty about the nation’s economic future and possible federal legislation on climate change and renewable energy is reshaping the market for building power-generation and transmission projects in the U.S., according to executives at some of the nation’s largest contractors. That uncertainty has led many coal-fired projects to be canceled or put on hold, several natural gas-fired projects to be delayed, and even some wind projects to be put on ice while utilities and independent power companies try to figure how long the recession will last and what Congress ultimately will agree to on a carbon cap-and-trade program and a renewable

Norway’s energy company, Statoil-Hydor, has launched a floating wind turbine, rated at 2.3 MW and claimed as the world’s first of its kind. In June, after assembly near Stavanger, the 65-meter-tall Hywind device with 80-m-dia blades was towed 10 km off Karmøy island for two years’ testing, beginning on Sept. 8. The 5,300-tonne unit, including a ballasted and anchored 100-m-deep supporting steel cylinder, is part of a $55-million research and development project. Photo: Statoil-Hydro

The typically methodical nature of oil and gas facility development could not fully insulate the sector’s construction activity from the economic roller coaster of the past 12 months, which saw commodity prices for crude oil skyrocket to $140 a barrel, than plummet just as quickly to the low $30s as motorists and industries around the world slashed consumption. Photo: Bechtel Work on Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery could ramp up by beginning of the new year. Photo: Bechtel Keystone pipeline will bring Canadian crude to the U.S. “The market downturn and financial crisis curbed everything,” says Peter Stalenhoef, president and COO

San Francisco-based Cleantech America started construction on Aug. 24 on what will be California’s largest solar photovoltaic farm, in Mendota. Quanta Service Inc., Houston, will provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the 5-MW solar farm that will cover about 50 acres. A spokesman for Cleantech, which is owned by New Zealand’s largest renewable electricity generator, Meridan Energy, would not reveal a cost for the project, only saying that it is a multimillion dollar project. The project is the first using solar photovoltaic technology to be approved under the state’s renewable portfolio standard. The farm is expected to be operational

A day after receiving a Presidential Permit, contractors for Enbridge Energy Partners LP, Houston, began work on the U.S. portion of a 992-mile pipeline. The Alberta Clipper will move 450,000 bbl per day from Canada’s oil sands in Alberta to Superior, Wis., with a planned capacity of up to 800,000 bpd. Photo: Enbridge Energy Partners LP Work is beginning in U.S. portion. More than 3,000 U.S. workers will be employed on the 326 miles of 36-in. pipeline, five tanks, three pumping stations and a companion 188-mile-long, 20-in. pipeline to carry diluents to Canada, says Jim Crawford, director of engineering and

An ambitious 2,500-kilometer-long “power highway” that will stretch across the breadth of Brazil has taken an important step forward with the awarding of a major subcontract to provide equipment and initial construction of the power line. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder / ENR Madeira River site is ideal for run-of-river hydro project. In late July, Zurich-based ABB snagged the $540-million contract to build a 600-kV portion of a power line that will connect two massive hydroelectric projects under construction on the Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon Basin to the urban center of São Paulo. The job was awarded to two ABB

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s board on Aug. 20 will vote on a proposal to convert the utility’s six wet-storage facilities for coal ash to dry storage. TVA’s Coal Combustion Products group, working in alliance with Stantec and URS Washington Group, drew up the proposal after last December’s catastrophic collapse of a wet-coal-ash storage facility at the utility’s Kingston Fossil Plant. Conversion will require changes in ash-handling equipment and creating storage facilities in configurations that will be decided after board approval, says Barbara Martocci, TVA spokeswoman. She would not give budget figures until after board approval. United Conveyor Corp., Waukegan, Ill.,

On the road to the “nuclear renaissance,” Canada’s nuclear-power industry hit a speed bump. Declining electricity demand has scotched plans to add as much as 7,200 MW of greenfield nuclear powerplants in Ontario. But even as it withdrew applications for eight new reactors at two sites, the country’s largest independent generator pledged to complete refurbishment of two laid-up units on its flagship site and to continue developing new nuclear powerplants in Saskatchewan and Alberta. If built, the plants in those provinces would be western Canada’s first nuclear plants. Photo: Babcock & Wilcox Canada Ltd. Babcock & Wilcox Canada is supplying

The U.S. potentially could reduce non-transportation energy consumption by 23% by 2020 and greenhouse gases by 1.1 gigatons annually, but this goal is achievable only if significant barriers are addressed and overcome, says a new report from McKinsey & Co. These barriers include $520 billion in needed up-front investment and a fragmented network of buildings, devices, building codes and other requirements. The potential for reducing energy consumption in the U.S. is huge, but coordinated national and regional strategies are needed to unlock the existing potential, says the New York City-based management consulting firm in its July 29 report. “Energy efficiency

Bentley Systems Inc., Exton, Pa., released an information model-based product for electrical substation design. Bentley Substation V8i integrates two- and three-dimensional tools and can shift from schematic line drawings to 3-D object views on the fly. Reports and bills-of-materials can be generated from the data as required. It draws on a database of more than 2 million electrical parts. Three-D modeling helps optimize site layout, integrates with Bentley’s Project Wise system and is priced at $15,000 a seat.