The United States Department of Energy has launched the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI), a new initiative designed to grow American manufacturing of clean energy products and boosting competitiveness through improved manufacturing energy productivity. The initiative includes private sector partnerships, new funding from the Department, and enhanced analysis of the clean energy manufacturing supply chain.

The 75th and final turbine of the 270MW Lincs Offshore Wind Farm has been successfully installed. When fully operational the wind farm will be capable of producing enough energy to meet the annual power needs of more than 200,000 households.

The Tween Bridge onshore wind farm in Thorne, Doncaster has officially opened. The 22 turbine, 44MW wind farm is capable of providing the electricity needs of around 27,000 homes, which is approximately one in every ten homes and can potentially prevent 54,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

Hydro Québec has informed residents of Montréal borough Lachine of the upcoming deployment of smart meters. Many utility customers have complained that the news comes with little warning and that there is no option for those who do not want the meters. The Board of Energy authorized Hydro-Québec to proceed with smart meters roll-out in zone 1 in late 2012.

  Masers Energy Malaysia Sdn Bhd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea’s C&M Global to jointly develop a $30 billion national smart grid and green special economic zone in Malacca over the next 10 years. The Malaysian Government has endorsed the project in Malacca.

Silver Spring Networks Selected by SP PowerAssets for Advanced Metering Infrastructure Industry Innovators Partner to Deliver Highly Efficient, Reliable and Secure 21st Century Energy Infrastructure

GE’s prototype of the world’s most efficient high-output wind turbine, the new 2.5-120, is operational at a test site in Wieringermeer, Netherlands. The 2.5-120 harnesses the power of the industrial Internet to analyze tens of thousands of data points every second allowing for management of variable wind sources to provide predictable power. The turbine integrates energy storage and advanced forecasting algorithms while communicating with neighboring turbines, service technicians, and operators.

ComEd’s digital upgrades to a substation will help improve power reliability for approximately 28,000 utility customers on the South Side of Chicago. The Wallace smart substation uses state-of-the-art technology to reduce the number and duration of power outages. ComEd reports it also improves the utility’s ability “to monitor the electrical system and respond quickly to potential issues, rather than reacting to problems after they occur. The Wallace smart substation is equipped with sensors that can help prevent power outages by analyzing up to 1,500 pieces of information every two seconds and can alert ComEd system operators when, or even before, problems arise.”

The city of Santa Clara, California, is the first city in the United States to provide free outdoor wifi access for an entire community as part of its advanced metering system put in place by Silicon Valley Power (SVP), the city’s municipal electric utility.

Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has announced a $125 billion investment program into alternative and renewable energy, with $22 billion earmarked for electricity and water infrastructure expansion and renovation projects.

SaskPower and SaskEnergy have chosen parts of Regina, Saskatchewan’s capital city, and its surrounding area as the next test location for the utility’s new advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project for electricity and natural gas meters.

The University of Hong Kong’s new campus expansion has earned the highest rating for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in building design and operation and as a result becomes one of only three universities worldwide to achieve that goal

Enel Green Power (EGP) has agreed to purchases 50 percent of Powercrop, which is reconverting former Eridania sugar refineries into biomass power plants. Through the acquisition, Enel Green Power reports it has “entered into a broad-based partnership with SECI Energia to develop energy from the biomass short supply chain by building five new high-efficiency plants with a total installed capacity of 150 MW. Once built, these plants could be capable of generating up to 1 billion kWh.”

A judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit against the city of Naperville, Illinois, filed by opponents to its smart meter program. Leaders of the Naperville Smart Meter Awareness group promised to file a revised lawsuit.

Silver Spring Networks is extending its smart infrastructure platform with a new smart grid solution designed for the unique needs of municipal and cooperative utilities. The new solution focuses on making it easy to rapidly scope, deploy, and test results resulting in a cost effective technology that enables municipal and cooperative utilities to rollout a sophisticated advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) program for electricity, water, and natural gas customers.

Energate is supplying its Consumer Connected Demand Response (CCDR) platform for GE’s PowerOn Precision software platform. The collaboration integrates Energate’s CCDR platform, with GE’s Asset Control and SaaS suites in a combined offering to utility customers.

Greentech Media has named CenterPoint Energy one of the Top Ten North American Utilities in recognition of its smart grid deployment programs.

  The UK’s largest smart grid project has completed the first stage of its research, which is comprised of ongoing trials with 12,000 customers. The £54m Customer-Led Network Revolution (CLNR) project is testing to ensure Britain’s electricity networks are ready for the mass uptake of technologies including solar PV, heat pumps, and electric vehicles.

Asoka Corporation has been granted two United States patents for its Home Energy Management Service (HEMS) solutions. The first is for systems and methods that control energy consumption and the second covers a set of sensor units enabled for streaming media delivery with monitoring and control of power usage of connected appliances.

Mercury Energy is bringing Opower’s customer engagement platform to nearly 300,000 customers in New Zealand. Opower founder and president Alex Laskey says, “We are excited to partner with Mercury Energy in order to bring our platform to a retail energy provider that is committed to helping its customers take control of their energy consumption and learn ways to save. Mercury’s Good Energy Monitor (GEM) is built on the Opower platform, the only proven and scalable software for the utility industry that provides customers with the tools and insight they need to manage their energy consumption.”