Montana proposed for new $2.5 B transmission line
A new $2.5 B transmission line to bridge the eastern and western power grids of the USA has been proposed for the plains of Montana and North Dakota.
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USA, Montana: A new $2.5 B transmission line to bridge the eastern and western power grids of the USA has been proposed for the plains of Montana and North Dakota.
The so-called North Plains Connector is to allow power across three time zones, from Midwest to Seattle, making the wholesale energy markets more affordable, with the advantage of a more reliable energy supply.
Allete (Minnesota) and Grid United (Texas) have announced their memorandum of understanding to build this 620-km (385-mi) HVDC transmission line.
It is expected for the construction works to commence in three to four years, and the project could take at least a decade until completed. The line would accommodate 3 GW of power.
“There is a lot of value to connecting across this interconnection seam, where you really don’t have much transfer right now,” said Will Harrop, Grid United’s manager of grid analytics. “What you can do is smooth out these extreme events. A great example would be December of 2022, we had this big winter storm just before Christmas. You can see that roll across the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest, even through the East Coast. You get very disparate impacts, in different regions at different times.“
Source: Electric Energy Online
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