The $2.4 billion RioSol clean energy transmission project between New Mexico and Arizona won approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this month to sell clean energy capacity on the planned line of 550 miles, a key milestone for the project, says its Phoenix-based developer. Southwestern Power Group, owned by MMR Group.
“We hope to launch the open solicitation before the end of this year,” says David Getts, CEO of Southwestern Power Group, which is looking to build the Proposed 1.6 GW 500 kV high voltage AC power line and at least five substations.
RioSol, jointly developed with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority and first proposed in 2006, will bring wind and solar resources to market, “accessing clean energy from gigawatt-scale wind farms in New Mexico and lots in Arizona,” according to the project’s website.
“There are now engineering team members and consultants in New Mexico, Arizona and around the country working on the project,” says Getts. “Major construction-related decisions will take place in 2026,” he adds, with completion about two years later.
The construction of the project would go after the completion of the current one underway Auntie Sun Wind and Transmission Project, which includes the generation of wind energy and a direct current high voltage line that will run the same route as RioSol.
SunZia is billed as “the largest clean energy infrastructure project in US history” and is scheduled to be fully operational by 2026.
In Nevada, the federal Bureau of Land Management is considering near-final approval of the $4.2 billion GreenLink Nevada project, which includes 700 miles of transmission lines that will harness the renewable energy potential of the West and northern nevada Solar and geothermal electricity producers are expected to make use of the project’s network of substations and high-capacity 525 kV lines to send power throughout the West.
A spokeswoman for the developer, NV Energy-owned Berkshire Hathaway Energy, said in a statement that project construction will begin in December for the line, which will run from the outskirts of Las Vegas to the outskirts of Reno. It is expected to be operational by May 2027, with the north-east-west section to be completed by the end of 2028.
Much of the project crosses public land, requiring extensive federal regulatory involvement, and the pace of approvals has slowed the project.
But in a May 31 filing with Nevada state regulators, NV Energy noted the increased cost of the Greenlink project, from about $2.5 billion it stated in a 2021 filing, with the company citing the supply chain constraints, labor rates and inflation. “The only practical alternative to building Greenlink is building additional generation closer to load centers … similar reliability cannot be achieved at lower cost without Greenlink,” NV Energy said. It was pointed out “considerable load growth in the state through 2034” due to population growth, electrification and more data centers in its service territory.
Carolyn Barbash, NV Energy’s former vice president of transmission policy and development, told a Las Vegas television station late last year that Greenlink was “probably about 11 months late” in the authorization process.
The company noted that project costs will be recouped over 70 years and that revenue from wholesale transmission customers using the lines will defray the costs to utility ratepayers.
“Once the permitting process is complete, we will be able to share more updates on the schedule and construction,” the spokeswoman said.
