In March, Black Hills Corp. announced that its electric utility subsidiary, Black Hills Power, has completed a seven-year power purchase agreement with the City of Gillette, WY. It replaced a previous agreement and provided an option to purchase 23 percent of Wygen III, a 110 megawatt coal-fired generation facility that is nearing completion and expected to begin commercial operations this month (April).

The new agreement became effective when Wygen III began operation. It also recovered the costs associated with ownership and operation until the city completes the purchase of its share of the generation facility. Montana-Dakota Utilities previously purchased a 25 percent ownership interest in Wygen III in April of last year.

"It is great to continue our partnership with the City of Gillette, and we expect them to exercise their option to purchase later this year. This transaction has been in development for some time, so the completion of this new agreement and the option to purchase have no impact on the Black Hills Power pending South Dakota or Wyoming rate requests because the benefits were anticipated and included in the original rate filings," said Chuck Loomis, operating vice president for Black Hills Power. "We are pleased our partnerships with city of Gillette and MDU have created value. Their agreement to participate in the ownership of Wygen III lowers the overall costs associated with the facility for Black Hills Power customers."

The purchase option, which is subject to approval by the board of directors of Black Hills Power, provides that the City of Gillette would pay approximately $62 million for 23 percent ownership. In addition, related agreements specify that the city would pay Black Hills Power for ongoing administrative services and its share of the costs to operate the facility. The coal to fuel the plant will be purchased from the nearby Wyodak Mine, which is owned and operated by Wyodak Resources Development Corp, also a Black Hills Corp. subsidiary.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has sold leases for oil and gas drilling on more than 81,000 acres of federal land in Nevada for a total nearing $373,000, with about a third going to the state and another third going to the US Treasury Dept. The most expensive parcels in the latest round of sales to the highest bidders were sold in Elko County for $10 an acre. The Denver-based Energy West Corp. and the Las Vegas-based North Star Expeditions each bought just under 2,000 acres for $20,000. In total, the BLM offered leases on 171 parcels of land covering more than 305,000 acres. The agency sold almost half of those parcels for the total upward of $375,000.

Hybrids, that combine both gas and electric motors, are leading the way toward global acceptance of electric vehicles, according to SBI Energy.  Global sales of hybrid electric vehicles rose 33 percent in 2009 with 700,000 vehicles sold in an unfavorable climate.  SBI Energy calculates that sales of hybrids accounted for 99 percent of all electric vehicle sales in 2009 worldwide.  Production of hybrids by domestic manufacturers for domestic sales in Japan reached 334,000 cars, tripling production compared to 2008.  Overall, Japan had almost half of all hybrid sales, followed by the US with 42 percent of global sales.

Westinghouse Electric, part of Japan's Toshiba group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Africa's DCD-Dorbyl in which Westinghouse's Generation III+ pressurized water reactor design, the AP1000, will be offered for South Africa's planned nuclear power expansion program.  The MoU covers design, production and integration of modules for the AP1000, as well as the manufacture of nuclear components, the support for the development of the supply chain.

Some 3,000 MW to 4,000 MW of electricity could be generated from clean energy sources in Africa's Great Lakes region between 2010 and 2016, a Hydragas Energy representative said, from gas-to-power and hydropower projects. The planned gas-to-power project at Lake Kivu could produce up to 1,000 MW of electricity at an investment cost of about $2.5 billion.  Hydropower projects along the Razizi River could deliver 540 MW of electricity, at an investment cost of about $1.5 billion.

The wind energy industry had a banner year in 2009, due to tax credits and incentives packed into the $787 billion economic stimulus bill.  A record 10,000 megawatts of new generating capacity came on line, but few jobs were created overall and the wind power manufacturing employment fell.  The federal stimulus bill spared the wind and solar industries steep job losses last year, it is reported.  In the wind industry, the bill saved about 40,000 factory, installation and maintenance jobs, according to the American Wind Energy Assn.  The industry had gained as many as 2,000 installation and maintenance jobs in producing the record megawatts of new capacity, but wind power manufacturing lost just as many jobs, it was reported.

If carbon dioxide (CO2) gases captured from power plants and other industrial sites were pumped into existing US oil reservoirs as part of "enhanced oil recovery" (EOR) efforts, the result would be a major increase in US oil production, according to a new analysis by Advanced Resources International (ARI).  The ARI report shows how EOR could significantly reduce the nation's dependence on foreign energy and enhance national security, while cutting carbon emissions from the air.  These benefits would come through comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation that is currently being considered in the US Congress.

Electric vehicles, in the form of hybrids and combine gas and electric motors, are beginning to make a move, according to SBI Energy forecast, with US and Japan currently making up the largest segments of the hybrid electric vehicle with 42 percent and 48 percent market share, respectively.  SBI forecasts the market to double, for a total of 1.5 million passenger hybrid vehicles sold in 2014.  The majority of the growth will stem from smaller HEV markets such as Europe, Australia and South Korea, as well as new markets such as India and China.

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