Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR) appointed Jeff S. Forbes  as executive vice president, nuclear operations and chief nuclear officer at Entergy Nuclear effective Jan 2.Forbes will be replacing John Herron, who has spent 33 years in the nuclear industry and announced his retirement effective March 31.

Chile’s environmental evaluation service has approved solar power projects valued at $498 million with a total generating capacity of 130 MW.

Ormat Technologies Inc. has announced that an Ormat subsidiary will acquire a geothermal project from Geotermica Platanares that is being developed in Honduras.

Kyocera Solar do Brasil is planning to invest $5 million in a solar equipment manufacturing facility in Brazil.

Conduit Capital Partners LLC and CAF announced that they have invested in the Tacna and Panamericana solar projects in southern Peru, and that the Tacna project has entered into operation.

Alstom has been awarded a contract worth around €170 million ($216.3 million) by Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) to supply eight turbines and generators units for the 2,400 MW Ituango hydropower plant in Colombia.

The Babcock & Wilcox Co. said that its subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc., was awarded a $60 million contract to design and supply a coal-fired boiler for the Termotasajero Power Plant in Colombia.

A 20 MW solar power plant was inaugurated in Peru.

Siemens received an order to supply two power islands for the Juan Manuel Valdez Guiria combined-cycle power plants in Venezuela.

Utilities will be offered tax incentives in Brazil to produce nuclear energy.

Brazil and Uruguay both authorized construction of two jointly operated wind energy farms that would add 100 MW to their power grids.

Brazil's environmental regulator Ibama has granted an operating license for the 3.3 GW Jirau hydroelectric plant in the Amazon basin.

Siemens has won a $220 million contract to supply the power island for the 580 MW, gas-fired UTE Mauá 3 combined-cycle power plant in Manaus, Brazil.

Alterra Power Corp. has entered into an agreement with Energy Development Corp. (EDC), a Philippines-based geothermal company, for the development of Alterra's Mariposa geothermal project in Chile and five of Alterra's Peruvian geothermal concessions.

GDF Suez, through its subsidiary Tractebel Energia, inaugurated a 1,087 MW hydroelectric power plant at Estreito in Brazil.

Iberdrola SA said it started building the 150 MW Calango wind power project in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte state.

Chile’s environmental evaluation service approved an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the $240 million, 106 MW Renaico wind farm.

Vestas has received an order from ContourGlobal for a total capacity of 114 MW for the Cupisnique and Talara wind power plants in Peru.

Global investment in clean energy totaled $56.6 billion in the third quarter of 2012, down 5 percent from the previous quarter and 20 percent lower than 3Q 2011.

The T-Solar Group is developing 99 MW of solar power in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Peru.

Company Vientos de Electrotecnia's planned wind farms in Honduras will produce a combined 94.5 MW of capacity.

Ilumina, the largest photovoltaic plant in operation in Puerto Rico, has been officially inaugurated by Governor Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burse.

Siemens has been awarded contracts for the combined cycle conversion of two gas-fired simple cycle power plants in Argentina by Unión Temporal de Empresas (UTE), a joint venture between Isolux Ingeniería and Inversora Andina Ibérica.

ContourGlobal, through its subsidiary, ContourGlobal Latam S.A., said Oct. 3 that it will construct two wind farms in Peru that it has acquired from Energia Eolica S.A.

A week after announcing 230 layoffs at its Little Rock, Ark. manufacturing plant, LM Wind Power has announced plans to open a new blade manufacturing facility in Brazil.

Brazil's power regulator Aneel has approved the startup of seven wind farms totaling 188 MW of capacity.

Alstom signed a letter of intent with the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil to build a wind tower turbine production facility.

Alstom has signed a contract with Neoenergia for the supply of three Kaplan hydro turbines, generators, control command and protection systems, and electromechanical and erection equipment for the Baixo Iguaçu hydropower plant in Brazil.

TECO Guatemala on Sept. 28 has entered into separate agreements to sell all of the equity interests in the 78 MW simple-cycle, gas-fired Alborada power plant and the 120 MW, coal-fired San José power station.

Alstom on Sept. 27 said it has signed two contracts totaling about €270 million ($348 million) with Queiroz Galvão, an infrastructure group in Brazil.

The Brazilian government said it will invest 269 billion reals ($132.2 billion) in the power generation and transmission sectors over the next 10 years.

Acciona is requesting a $90 million unsecured corporate loan from the Inter-Developmental Bank for projects in Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Chile has scrapped its target of generating 20 per cent of its power from renewables by 2020.

Mainstream Renewable Power of Ireland signed a $78.4 million credit facility with Macquarie to finance wind and solar projects in four countries, including Chile and Canada.

E-CL has filed an environmental impact assessment (EIA) with the Chilean government’s evaluation service for a $165 million, 75 MW wind farm in northern region II.

Colombia-based utility EPM awarded Alstom Brasil Energia e Transporte a $226 million contract to supply the equipment for the $5.51 billion 2.4 GW Ituango hydroelectric power project.

Alstom Renewable Power has signed a letter of intent with Casa dos Ventos to provide 68 wind turbines for new projects in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

Gamesa signed a contract to deliver 258 MW of wind turbines to 10 wind farms in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

Brazil's power regulator Aneel has approved the startup of a sixth generating unit at the $8 billion, 3.15 GW Santo Antônio hydroelectric plant in the Amazon.

Energy Development Corp. said it will not continue with a joint venture at Australia-based Hot Rock Limited’s Chocopata geothermal power plant in Peru.

Colombian state power generator Isagen has secured a $73 million credit facility for its 820 MW Sogamoso hydroelectric plant.

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Costa Rica September 5, causing widespread power outages.

German project developer juwi opened an office in Costa Rica and will supervise construction of a 39.6 MW wind farm in Nicaragua.

U.S. Geothermal said its development team will focus on two projects due to the “current weakened market” for renewables in the U.S.

Just two weeks after a federal court shut down progress on the 11.2-GW Belo Monte hydropower project, a Supreme Court decision has overturned this work stoppage.

Manufacturers of nuclear power plants operate in a unique sphere, where design tolerances are razor-thin, safety requirements unrelenting, and standards for initial quality never bend.

GE said it has installed 300 wind turbines in Brazil, and is expected to install more than 600 additional turbines in the country.

Brazilian utility Light purchased a 51 percent stake in Guanhães Energia from Investminas Participações for $13 million.

An appeals court in Chile overturned the approval of the 50 MW Pirquenes coal-fired power plant.