Electrical Marketing's LiveWire

Arrow Electronics Inc., Melville, N.Y., announced an agreement to acquire A.E. Petsche Co., Arlington, Texas, a provider of interconnect products, including specialty wire, cable and harness management solutions, to the aerospace and defense markets. It is expected that the deal will close by the end of 2009.
“With this acquisition, A.E. Petsche will expand Arrow’s product offering in specialty wire and cable and will greatly increase our presence in the aerospace and defense markets,” said Peter Kong, president of Arrow Global Components.
With approximately 250 employees, A.E. Petsche provides value-added distribution services to more than 3,500 customers. Total sales in 2008 were approximately $220 million. Arrow Electronics is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. It serves as a supply channel partner for approximately 800 suppliers and 130,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network of more than 340 locations in 53 countries and territories. Arrow’s sales for 2008 were $16.8 billion. Details

There’s so much chatter about advances in thin-film photovoltaic cells and crystalline silicon PV cells that folks often forget about concentrating solar technologies, which focus the suns rays on PV panels with the use of mirrors or lenses. This New York Times article offers a good date on what’s happening with utility-scale concentrating solar technologies.

Resin Systems Inc., Calgary, Alberta, a manufacturer of advanced composite products for infrastructure markets, has entered into a distribution agreement with HD Supply Utilities, Atlanta, North America’s largest electric utilities distributor. The agreement includes an initial purchase order for the company’s RStandard poles exceeding $100 million over the first half of the initial term, subject to applicable terms and conditions.
Under the agreement, HD Supply Utilities will be the exclusive distributor of RStandard poles within the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas and all of the Caribbean Islands. The agreement is for an initial term of five years and may be renewed for additional terms.
“The RStandard composite pole meets an increasing need of our utility customers for poles that are light weight and offer ease of transportation and installation, long life, safety and low environmental impact,” said Rick McClure, president, HD Supply Utilities. “Together, our companies offer an innovative solution that will meet growing demand for utility poles, especially in light of new transmission and distribution infrastructure projects funded through the stimulus plan.”
“This multi-year agreement includes a volume commitment by HD Supply Utilities that meets our current plant capacity,” said Paul Giannelia, president and chief executive officer, RS. “This achievement creates a stable foundation for our manufacturing team and allows us to turn our attention to new plant capacity increases required for our growth.”

First Solar Inc., Tempe, Ariz., announced a an agreement with the Chinese government on Nov. 17 that takes another critical step toward building the world’s largest solar power plant in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, China. First Solar President Bruce Sohn and Mayor Yun Guangzhong of the city government of Ordos, China, signed the Cooperation Framework Agreement in the presence of Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, Vice Minister Liu Qi of the National Energy Administration, and U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. The agreement between First Solar and Ordos spells out additional project details and local support that advance the development of the 2 GW solar power plant and confirms the June 1, 2010 expected construction start date for the 30MW phase 1. First Solar and Ordos also agreed to establish two committees to ensure the successful execution of the project and to develop a new energy industry in Ordos. The signing ceremony took place as part of the U.S.-China Summit where U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao met to discuss upcoming global climate change negotiations and clean energy, among other topics.
The project is to be built in multiple phases, beginning with the 30MW Phase 1. Phases 2, 3 and 4 are to be 100MW, 870MW, and 1,000MW, respectively. Phases 2 and 3 are to be completed by 2014 and Phase 4 is to be completed by 2019. The project is part of a planned 11.95GW New Energy Industry Demonstration Zone in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. The New Energy Industry Demonstration Zone is expected to combine solar, wind, hydroelectric and biomass power sources to provide a steady supply of renewable energy to the region that includes the Chinese capital.

Dynalectric Co., a subsidiary of EMCOR Group Inc., Norwalk, Conn., won a contract for the installation of electrical systems for the new U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Dynalectric will install the electrical systems for the nine-level, 1,300,000-square -foot base office building and two parking garages, as well as the electrical systems required at a 65,000-square-foot central utility plant, including relocation of existing site utilities, as well as a tunnel connector to the main building.The large work sitewill require 8,000A of temporary electrical service, which will also be installed by Dynalectric. The estimated 36-month project construction schedule commenced on October 1.
The project, which will be submitted for LEED certification, was one of the early recipients of federal stimulus dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, and received $162 million in ARRA funds. EMCOR was ranked as the largest electrical contractor on Electrical Construction & Maintenance magazine’s Top 50 list, with $1.7 billion in 2008 sales.