$15m to perform nuclear remediation services

Homeland Security Capital Corporation's environmental remediation subsidiary, Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC) has been awarded a task order valued at $15.2M to perform nuclear remediation services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District. This project is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Contracted by the Army Corps through the Buffalo District, SEC will be performing remediation activities to include excavation, rail transportation, disposal, backfill, site restoration, site analysis and health & safety activities.

Grand Coulee Dam’s control system

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has selected RTI Data Distribution Service for an upgrade of the Grand Coulee Dam’s control system. RTI’s middleware will integrate components of the dam’s next-generation Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, enabling more efficient and reliable hydroelectric power generation. The Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower plant in the United States. The project to retrofit the control system is for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) in cooperation with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydroelectric Design Center (HDC) is the system integrator; HDC selected RTI Data Distribution Service to implement a highly available, high-performance and scalable control system. (Dave Brown, the project manager and system architect for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.)

EMS for 900 retail locations

Michaels Stores has deployed Site-Command Energy Management System (EMS) at more than 900 retail locations. To date, Michaels has seen energy usage drop by more than 25 percent at stores equipped with Site-Command. The solution helps chain retailers reduce energy and maintenance costs through equipment monitoring and control combined with web-based business intelligence. Site-Command lowers energy consumption and maintenance costs in retail and restaurant facilities through an on-site EMS unit which monitors and controls Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, interior and exterior lighting, store signage, refrigerators, trash compactors, solar panels and wind power. In addition, enterprise-wide issue reporting and asset intelligence are provided through a hosted data center. Besides lowering costs, Site-Command also improves customer comfort by ensuring corporate standards for temperature and lighting are consistently maintained across the chain.

Besides lowering energy costs, Site Controls has helped significantly reduce Michaels’ carbon emissions. By lowering electricity usage by 137 million kilowatt hours annually, Michaels has reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 192 million lbs. This is the equivalent of removing 17,400 cars from the road or powering over 12,900 households for a year. (Rob McClay, VP of Store Development and Construction for Michaels.)

Digitally automating North America’s first commercial-scale renewable diesel plant

Dynamic Fuels, a 50/50 venture of Tyson Foods and Syntroleum Corporation, has awarded Emerson Process Management the contract to digitally automate North America’s first commercial-scale renewable diesel plant. With Emerson’s PlantWeb digital architecture, Dynamic Fuels will gain optimum control through the networking of thousands of Emerson smart devices, systems, and predictive maintenance software.

The $138 million facility, which is scheduled to begin operations in early 2010, will use Syntroleum’s biofuels manufacturing process – Bio-Synfining – with plans to convert animal fats and greases into 75 million gallons/year of ultra-clean, renewable diesel fuel. With some plant modifications, the Geismar facility can also produce renewable jet fuel. Renewable diesel is chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel but produces lower emissions including lower nitrogen oxide, near zero sulfur, and no aromatics (which can be carcinogenic). It also has a higher combustion quality (cetane level) than petroleum-based diesel or biodiesel and is compatible with existing fuel pipelines, storage facilities and other conventional fuel infrastructures. It can be blended with petroleum-based fuels to improve their emissions quality.

Radiological, nuclear, environmental, disaster relief and security solutions

Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC) a provider of specialized technology-based radiological, nuclear, environmental, disaster relief and security solutions to government and commercial customers, along with their teaming partners, have been awarded a Master Task Order Agreement (MTOA) stimulus funded contract with a maximum value potential of $100M from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Team, including SEC’s protégé company ARS International (ARS), was awarded one of four MTOA contracts from LANL. The task orders are partially stimulus funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and contain a maximum capacity of $100M. The four awarded companies will bid competitively for a variety of Remedial Action (RA) and Decommissioning and Demolition (D&D) services at LANL Technical Area-21. According to the Weapons Complex Monitor Special Bulletin released in August, Los Alamos will receive $212M in ARRA cleanup funds, of which approximately $79M will go toward addressing more than 20 buildings/structures at TA-21.

Mission-critical infrastructure solution

Lee Technologies, a provider of mission-critical infrastructure solutions that enable commercial enterprises and government agencies to avoid disaster and mitigate risk to their technology facilities, has been selected by the Department of Defense (DoD) to design and implement a containerized power and cooling infrastructure solution for the DoD Texas facility. The project is valued at more than $3 million.

$300,000 for upgrade and expansion of security system

Nexus Technologies Group, a security integrator for the corporate and governmental security markets, has been awarded two contracts totaling approximately $300,000 for services and equipment to facilitate the upgrade and expansion of the security system at a large east coast nuclear power generating facility. www.nexusna.com

Fuel savings on Canadian Pacific

GE Transportation has been awarded a contract by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited to equip 200 locomotives with its Trip Optimizer fuel savings product. Trip Optimizer, a product of Ecomagination, is an advanced energy management system that optimizes fuel consumption based on a specific train's makeup and the route being traveled. The system calculates a fuel optimal speed profile for the trip and then automatically controls the throttle to maintain that planned speed. Trip Optimizer uses GPS, a digital track database and advanced algorithms that automatically learn the train’s characteristics throughout the trip to achieve the fuel savings. The system evaluates train length, weight, grade, track conditions, weather and locomotive performance to calculate the most efficient way of running the train while maintaining smooth train handling. www.getransportation.com.

$2m for smart microgrid demonstration

With the goals of increasing energy security, energy efficiency, and promoting cleaner, alternative energy at U.S. military bases, GE today announced it has been awarded $2 million in Federal stimulus funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for a smart microgrid demonstration project at Twentynine Palms Base, California. The base is the world's largest Marine Corps Base and it is the premier training facility in the world for Marine operations, drawing military personnel from all over the world for Combined Arms Exercises. GE and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) office at DOD are in the process of finalizing a contract for the project. www.ge.com/research.

$30,000 in one quarter through fuel savings

Wireless Matrix and PeakView Solutions, LLC have announced a successful deployment at NewWave Communications, a Multiple System Operator (MSO) serving customers across six states. Since deploying Wireless Matrix’s FleetOutlook solution parallel to PeakView Solutions’ DispatchView, as part of its Phase 2 mobile workforce management solution in mid-March, the MSO has already seen its fuel usage reduced significantly, about 4,200 gallons per month across 175 technicians. This reduction has led to an estimated cost savings of $30,000 over the first quarter of deployment. www.wirelessmatrix.com www.peakviewsolutions.com

$4.3 million of geophysical equipment

OYO Geospace has received an order for $4.3 million of geophysical equipment, including 3,000 channels of the Geospace Seismic Recorder (GSR), the company’s new wireless seismic data acquisition system.

Fuel Management System

FuelQuest, Inc., the on-demand software and services company for the global downstream energy industry, has reached a five-year agreement with John E. Jones Oil Company (Jones Oil) for the use of its Fuel Management System (FMS). Jones Oil will deploy FMS to improve fleet utilization, reduce retains and run-outs, and increase visibility into tank inventory and usage trends. FMS powers the largest fuel management network in North America with more than 15 billion gallons managed annually. (Patrick Lingg, controller of Jones Oil.)

48 million households pay bills online

The number of US households paying bills online will grow from 48 million this year to 63 million by 2014, according to a forecast by Forrester Research.

Smart grid software platform

GridPoint has been selected by Hometown Connections as its exclusive smart grid software platform provider. A marketing agreement enables APPA utility members to purchase GridPoint’s software platform with favorable commercial terms and deliver innovative energy savings programs to public power customers. GridPoint Platform 3.0 allows utilities to progressively integrate and customize smart grid solutions, including energy efficiency, load management, renewable integration, storage management and electric vehicle management. (Tim Blodgett, President and CEO, Hometown Connections.)

500 wireless disconnect units

Nighthawk Systems, Inc., a provider of wireless and IP-based control devices and solutions, has received an initial order for 500 of its CEO700 wireless disconnect units from Inland Power and Light Company of Spokane, Washington. Inland Power is the largest electric cooperative in Washington, providing electricity to over 35,000 commercial, residential and agricultural customers. The CEO700 gives electric utilities the ability to wirelessly disconnect and reconnect power to residential electric meters from a centralized location, improving customer service response times and saving the utility significant time and money over the traditional manual disconnect method that requires multiple truck rolls and field personnel.

Supply-chain pricing

Telvent has announced an expanded integration between Telvent and DTN refined fuel supply chain solutions. Telvent DTN manages 80 percent of the supply-chain pricing and billing transaction interchange conducted in North America every day; and more than 60 percent of the total hydrocarbon movements in North and Latin American pipelines. Telvent DTN delivers solutions for real-time electronic integration of key inventory points across terminals and from pipeline inventory deliveries. Automatic integration of external and internal information eliminates manual entry and mistakes, speeds reconciliation of physical to book inventory and ensures security, safety and compliance needs for all stakeholders involved with the selling and buying of fuel. Telvent DTN provides operational intelligence aligned with the operative processes needed by the customers. www.telvent.com

Power management software saves

As part of the City of Honolulu’s Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s Sustainability plan, the city’s deployment of Verdiem’s Surveyor PC power management software. Since deployment and power policy enforcement across 1,700 of the city’s 4500 PCs beginning in July 2008, Verdiem’s Surveyor has saved the City of Honolulu $30 per PC per year, reducing PC energy costs by more than 30 percent. As a result, the city has also achieved a payback from its purchase within 8 months of use and is accruing an ongoing positive return on investment. “At thirty cents per kilowatt hour, the City of Honolulu pays the highest energy rates in the country, so we deployed power management solutions as a key component of our Green-IT initiative and it’s already paying dividends,” said Gordon Bruce, Director/Chief Information Officer of IT for the City of Honolulu.

“The City of Seattle has set an ambitious agenda to address climate change and the results we are achieving with Verdiem in reducing the City’s PC energy consumption demonstrate, in a very tangible way, how we can collectively save on energy costs and protect our planet,” said Seattle’s Mayor Nickels.

Hosting and services agreement

EnSite, a provider of software solutions and transaction management services for energy companies and service providers, has won an extension to the hosting and services agreement with the manager of the School Project for Utility Rate Reduction (“SPURR”). SPURR provides gas supply management and purchasing, regulatory, and gas operations services to nearly 4,000 facilities operated by over 200 public K-12 districts, community colleges, county offices of education, universities, and other public agencies in California. (Michael Rochman, Managing Director of SPURR.) www.spurr.org.

Better revenue management

Xcel Energy has doubled the size of its Teradata Active Enterprise Data Warehouse. The expansion supports the energy company’s focus on better revenue management through integrated data and analysis of customer and energy use. The purchase will enable Xcel Energy to load data, both daily and in near-real time, from several new data sources including supply chain data. The additional data sources will allow the company to expand its business intelligence focus for more efficient business operations and analysis. (Brian Jore, director of analytics at Xcel Energy.)

Marathon governance, risk and compliance

Marathon Oil Corporation, has implemented BWise as its governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solution. BWise was chosen by Marathon to enable its compliance with several regulations and reduce its compliance costs. (Barbara Brooks, Manager, Accounting Process, and Anne Hunt, Director, IT Compliance, for Marathon.)