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Transmission line to bring hydropower to NYC advances as contracts are signed

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Transmission line to bring hydropower to NYC advances as contracts are signed
(New York City skyline. Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

A transmission line to deliver hydroelectric power took a step forward as Champlain Hudson Power Express finalized contracts with three companies to oversee major construction work on the 339-mile-long underground transmission line that will deliver 1,250 MW of energy from Québec to New York City. 

Transmission Developers Inc., a Blackstone portfolio company, selected NKT, Kiewit Power Constructors Co., and Hitachi Energy to undertake various components of the construction and cable installation processes.

NKT, a cable and cable accessories supplier, was been chosen as the cable supplier and submarine cable installer. NKT will design, manufacture and complete submarine installation of the project’s two five-inch diameter 400kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cables.

Kiewit was selected to lead the on-land construction activity for the the line’s HVDC route including the converter station in Astoria, Queens.

Hitachi Energy will design, deliver and test the technology for anew converter station to be built at the Astoria Generating Complex. 

“HVDC systems have tremendous potential for bringing large amounts of electricity directly into cities, which is essential for securing sustainable and affordable power today and in the future,” said Niklas Persson, managing director of Hitachi Energy’s Grid Integration business.”

The solid-state buried cable will travel a route through Lake Champlain, the Hudson and Harlem Rivers and terrestrially primarily on railroad rights of way and roads until it reaches a converter station in Astoria, Queens where its energy will be distributed into New York City.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2022 and the project’s full operation date is anticipated to be spring of 2026. That date is later than the originally expected late 2025 timeframe due to what was termed as “unforeseen events including market conditions following the execution of the project’s Tier 4 REC contract.”

In mid-September the New York State Public Service Commission approved plans for the developers to secure up to $6 billion in private financing for the project. Regulators first authorized the project in April 2013. 

The developers previously received permission to borrow up to $4.5 billion. And last November, H.Q. Energy Services (U.S.) Inc., as part of a collaboration with the developers, signed a contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority under which NYSERDA will buy renewable energy credits for renewable power delivered over the transmission line.

The project is expected to lower electricity generation costs statewide by $17 billion over its first 25 years of operation, and provide increased reliability and resiliency for the downstate grid. 

To reach the transmission line, Hydro-Québec will expand its transmission grid in Québec, from the Hertel substation to the Québec-New York border.