The US Department of Energy selected four “construction-ready” transmission line projects to support with a total of $1.5 billion in funding through the Transmission Facilitation Program. The four projects would add nearly 1,000 miles of transmission development and 7,100 MW of capacity in Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, according to DOE officials.
“You only need to look at the recent devastation of Hurricane Helene to see how the climate crisis is already straining our existing grid infrastructure at the precise time when we need that infrastructure to be bigger, stronger and more reliable,” he said John Podesta, White. Senior advisor of the house, in a call with the journalists.
The largest amount of funding is up to $425 million for Avangrid’s Aroostock renewable project in Maine. The planned 111-mile, 1,200-MW transmission line would connect a new substation in Haynesville to the Independent System Operator-New England substation in Pittsfield, allowing power generated at three wind farms and other potential renewable energy projects in the northern Maine reach users. through New England.
Avangrid said in a statement that it plans to respond to an upcoming request for proposals from the Maine Public Utilities Commission to connect 1,200 MW of renewable energy to the New England grid. The company says it will include the $425 million capacity contract with DOE as part of its proposal. Avangrid expects the state to announce the winning bids next year.
“By expanding our transmission infrastructure, this investment can make the power grid more stable and reliable and allow us to tap into affordable, clean energy generated right here in our own backyard instead of having to import expensive fossil fuels and harmful from out of state,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) said in a statement.
Connecting Texas
The DOE also selected the 320-mile, 3,000 MW Southern Spirit Transmission project for up to $360 million. The line would cross from Rusk County, Texas, through Louisiana to Choctaw County, Mississippi, to connect the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid with the Southern Independent System Operator grids and the Southern Midcontinent Company. ERCOT’s isolation has been blamed as a factor in the widespread Texas blackouts caused by the February 2021 winter storms. This would be the first connection between Texas and the Southeastern US grids, according to the DOE .
“For a long time, we’ve been starring at ERCOT and thinking, ‘How can we build more resilience in a system that’s more like an island than an interconnected network by leveraging resources from other parts of the country,'” Ali said. Zaidi, the White House’s national climate advisor. “This construction is truly transformative in breaking down the barrier between ERCOT and the rest of the country.”
The Cimarron Link, a planned 400-mile, 1,900 MW line between Texas County, Okla., and Tulsa, Okla., will receive up to $306 million from the DOE. Officials said the line would deliver wind and solar power to areas seeing growing demand in eastern Oklahoma and elsewhere in the Southwest Power Pool.
Phase 2 of the 1,000 MW Southline transmission project in New Mexico would receive up to $352 million from the DOE. The 108-mile Phase 2 would extend from the 175-mile Phase 1 south line between Hidalgo County, NM and Pima County, Arizona, which DOE officials selected for another contract last year in the first round of the Transmission Facilitation Program. Phase 1 construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2025.
“The commercial and development progress of Phase 1 of Southline underscores the effectiveness of the transmission facilitation program, and we are pleased to move forward with Phase 2 to expand capacity and enable greater integration of renewable energy in the South -west of the desert,” said Isaac Phillips, director. of development for Southline, in a statement.
Southline Phase 1 was one of three projects selected last year for the first round of the $2.5 billion Transmission Facilitation Program, which was created through the Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act of 2021 To finance the work, the DOE buys capacity on the lines and plans to recoup the financing later by selling the capacity to customers. He can then reinvest the money into new projects. With the newly announced selections, the DOE says nearly all of the program’s funds are committed.
“By the early 2030s, DOE will have helped develop more than 3,000 miles of new and improved transmission line,” said Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk.
