New Mexico HVDC transmission line to carry 4 GW of renewable energy
North Path transmission line is expected to move up to 4 GW of renewable energy produced in northeastern New Mexico powering around two million homes.
New Mexico: North Path to help unlock a share of what its local energy authority has estimated is $11 billion of unused renewable energy investment potential in the state.
The proposed $2 billion, 400-mile high-voltage direct current (HVDC) North Path transmission line will have the ability to move up to 4 GW of renewable energy produced in northeastern New Mexico to the state’s Four Corners region and power the equivalent of two million households in New Mexico and across the Southwest. The project will progress through a partnership between the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) and Invenergy Transmission.
The North Path line is expected to begin operations in 2025 and be completed in 2028. The power will flow through Union County, which according to RETA, has the highest potential in the state for wind energy generation and strong solar potential.
The project will open 3,500 jobs positions during construction, and generate tens of millions of dollars in yearly tax payments to tribal, state and local governments.
Will Consuegra, director of transmission development at Invenergy said that North Path will delivery a wide spectrum of benefits across New Mexico and that partnership with RETA proves that the projects adds to the state’s long term energy strategy and goals.
States in the southwestern part of the country have strong renewable energy potential, but there has been a problem of low transmission capacity. However, the region’s renewable energy generation can be more widely distributed with the new development of HVDS and AC power lines.
There has been one more significant transmission project approved recently by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) – SunZia, 550-mile 525-volt HVDC transmission project. Furthermore, the New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission issued two approvals of a 3.5 GW proposed wind project named Pattern Energy’s SunZia Wind project that is expected to provide power across the transmission line all the way to Pinal County, Arizona. After their completion, the SunZia Transmission and Wind project represents the largest clean energy project in the U.S., including $8 billion in total investments. It is estimated that the project will bring power from central New Mexico to mre than 3 million residents of central Arizona.
Source: Pw Magazine