Energy

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) opened its new $22-million Science and Technology Facility in Golden, Colo., in July of 2006. Designed to consolidate its research facilities into a single campus, the building enables NREL scientists to collaborate with private sector companies in photovoltaics and energy efficiency research. The Science and Technology Facility will also house the Department of Energy's local field office and 130 employees. Three additional facilities are planned at the site with construction beginning in 2007.

Maverick Tube Corp . will begin construction on a $63-million production facility in Louisville, Ky., in early 2005. Consolidating steel conduit operations for the company, the 400,000-sf building will be sited on 50 acres at Jefferson Riverport International. Completion is expected by year-end 2005. Maverick Tube produces tubular steel products for applications in the energy and industrial markets.

Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, has retained The Stubbins Associates and Philadelphia-based Kling to provide architecture and engineering design services for The Cleveland Center for Structural Biology (CCSB) and The Wright Fuel Cell Group facility. The CCSB will house one of only four 900 MHz NMR spectrometers in the country. Once completed, the one-story, 18,500-sf facility will house both CCSB's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facility and the Advancement Power Institute's Fuel Cell Laboratory.

CARBO Ceramics , based in Irving, Texas, has broken ground on a $62-million manufacturing facility in McIntyre, Ga. The plant will have an initial annual manufacturing capacity of 250 million pounds and is expected to be operational by year-end 2005. CARBO Ceramics produces and supplies ceramic proppants which are used in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas and oil wells.

Duke Energy Corp. has received approval from the California Energy Commission to build an $800 million natural gas-fired power plant at Moro Bay in California. One of the largest power stations in the state, the plant will have a generating capacity of 1,200 megawatts.

Midstate Electric Cooperative broke ground in June 2004 on its new 55,000-sf LaPine, Ore., campus. Designed by Bend-based Steele Associates Architects and constructed by R&H Construction, a firm with offices in Portland and Bend, the facility will be the first LEED™-certified building in Central Oregon. The project will feature insulated concrete form exterior walls, low VOC-emitting finish materials, ground source heat pumps, construction waste reduction and recycling, automated HVAC systems, natural day-lighting, and the use of recycled content building materials.

ChevronTexaco is consolidating area operations with the purchase of a 40-story office tower in Houston. The 1.2 million-sf building was originally built for Enron but never occupied. Chevron Texaco is also purchasing an adjoining 1,100-car parking garage. The new facility will accommodate approximately 3,700 employees.

Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) has created the Eager Biomass Project, a new power plant in eastern Arizona that will run on wood chips produced from forested trees. Producing enough electricity for 3,000 homes and businesses, APS will get green credits to apply to the Arizona Environmental Portfolio Standard which will require APS to generate 1.1 percent of its power through renewable resources by 2007. The biomass technology employed by the Eager, Ariz., plant converts vegetation waste such as forest and agricultural byproducts into clean fuel to power generators. 

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE) will renovate its historic East Tower facility in Baltimore to serve as the company’s new headquarters. Housing over 500 employees, the project will include retail space on the first level. The 18-month renovation is expected to reach completion in mid- to late 2005. BGE recently sold the West Tower, the site of the company’s former headquarters. Construction will include separation of the infrastructure of the two buildings as well as HVAC, electrical, and elevator upgrades.

Silicon Valley Power recently broke ground on the $165-million Von Raesfeld power plant sited on 2.86 acres in Santa Clara, Calif. Locally owned and operated, the 147-megawatt gas-fired plant is expected to reach completion in late 2004.

Indianapolis, Ind.-based Polaris Laboratories has opened a new fluid analysis testing facility in Houston. The 5,000-sf laboratory, which can complete most routine testing in 24 hours, has the capacity to process 3,000 samples per day. Polaris provides fluid analysis testing to the transportation, power generation, and gas compression industries.

Calpine Corp., a San Jose-based independent energy producer, will construct the new $500-million East Altamont power plant in eastern Alameda County, Calif. The 1,100-megawatt plant will be located one mile west of the San Joaquin County line and one mile southeast of the Contra Costa County line. The combined-cycle facility will be fueled by natural gas and will incorporate state-of-the-art emissions control technology. The plant will be required to use reclaimed water for cooling depending on availability, and providing the cost is comparable or less than the cost of fresh water.

Cielo Wind Power of Austin is developing the Brazos Wind Ranch, a 160-megawatt wind farm located 70 miles southeast of Lubbock. The project, a partnership between Cielo and Oakland, Calif.-based Orion Energy, will consist of 160 towers in the Borden and Scurry counties in Northwest Texas. Construction began in July 2003 and will progress on an aggressive six-month schedule so the wind farm can be operational by year-end. Contractor for the project is MA Mortenson Co. of Minneapolis.

Houston-based Tractebel North America will build a $300-million, 800-megawatt power generating system in Ennis, Texas. The plant is the third in north Texas for Tractebel and the second of its kind in Ennis. Tractebel is the energy division of French-based global energy services conglomerate Suez Group. 

San Diego-based Guepard Energy will construct four 5-megawatt plants in Imperial County, Calif., that will use methane gas from cow manure to make electricity. Construction of the first facility, located near a beef-processing plant in Brawley, will begin in April 2003. The four plants will cost $50-million to build and will process 1.6 million pounds of manure a day. The San Diego office of Archer Western, a division of Chicago-based Walsh Group, will oversee the project.