In consortium with General Electric, METKA S.A. recently announced the signing of a new contract with Société Algérienne de Production de l’Electricité (SPE Spa), for development of a new gas-fired power plant.

The project concerns the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and commissioning of an open cycle gas turbine power plant with two gas turbines and a total output of 368 MW located in Hassi R’mel, Algeria.

Carleton University’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering recently announced that Natural Resources Canada has invested $1.44 million through the ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative for a research project that will create a pilot-scale gas turbine facility to develop technology for efficient electricity generation. The funding is part of ongoing research and development efforts to reduce capital and operating costs, and increase the energy efficiency of, cleaner coal and carbon capture and storage systems.

US-based diversified energy company Black Hills Corporation has begun construction of its new 132MW gas-fired Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station, located five miles (8 km) southeast of Cheyenne, Wyoming. The plant will include one simple-cycle combustion turbine unit and one combined-cycle unit and is scheduled to begin commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2014.

California's newest power plant, the 800 MW CPV Sentinel Energy Project, has begun flowing electricity to the grid three months early, in time for the summer heat. Competitive Power Ventures, Inc. (CPV), GE unit GE Energy Financial Services and Diamond Generating Corporation (DGC) said the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and the California Energy Commission have declared commercial operations while the Chief Building Officer issued a final Certificate of Occupancy for the natural gas-powered plant in Riverside County.