ConnectGen’s 504-MW Wyoming wind project gets interconnection approval
USA, Wyoming: ConnectGen’s project, which sparked local opposition, will interconnect with the 345-kV Ault-Craig transmission line.
Image source: Utility Dive
USA, Wyoming: ConnectGen’s project, which sparked local opposition, will interconnect with the 345-kV Ault-Craig transmission line.
The transmission line is owned by the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Platte River Power Authority, according to a “record of decision” entered in the Federal Register.
The project is set to be built in two stages on about 26,000 ac of private and state land, WAPA said in the notice. ConnectGen, a 547 Energy subsidiary, aims to bring the first 252 MW stage online by the end of 2023, with the second stage following a year later.
ConnectGen owns 139 MW in solar operations and a development pipeline of more than 20,000 MW of wind, solar and energy storage projects, according to the company.
Wyoming, a state known for its coal production, has nearly 3,200 MW of wind capacity and about 3,500 MW under construction, according to the Department of Energy’s WINDExchange. Its wind resources in the area where the Rail Tie project is set to be built are rated as “excellent,” “outstanding” and “superb.”
The state lacks transmission capacity to export its potential wind power, but that could change soon with the TransWest Express project and PacifiCorp’s Energy Gateway projects advancing through the development process.
The TransWest developer has acquired all needed permissions to cross private land, Kara Choquette, Power Company of Wyoming and TransWest director of communications and government relations, has disclosed. PCW is building a 3,000 MW wind farm in Wyoming.
TransWest is on track to receiving a “notice to proceed” from the Bureau of Land Management next year, Choquette said.
Source: Utility Dive
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