Invenergy scales Grain Belt transmission project plans to 5,000 MW

Invenergy Transmission LLC plans to expand the total capacity of its Grain Belt Express transmission project by 25%, bringing the total to 5,000 MW. It also announced it was boosting the line's midpoint delivery capacity fivefold, with the project's Missouri converter station now to be rated at 2,500 MW.

The total cost of the Grain Belt Express project is now expected to be approximately $7 billion, the company said on July 11. But Invenergy said the high-voltage, direct-current line will bring $7.5 billion of energy and capacity cost savings to customers in Missouri and Illinois and $1 billion to customers in Kansas.

"By increasing total power delivery for the Grain Belt Express and ensuring an equal share is available locally, this state-of-the-art transmission infrastructure project will save families and businesses billions of dollars in electric costs each year, protect our communities by improving reliability and power prosperity across the Midwest well into the future," Shashank Sane, Invenergy's executive vice president and head of transmission, said in a statement.

The Grain Belt Express project has been over a decade in the making, with the goal to deliver wind-generated power in western Kansas across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, with access to both the Midcontinent ISO and PJM Interconnection LLC.

The project update comes one month after the Invenergy LLC subsidiary dodged a piece of legislation threatening its 200-mile right-of-way through the state of Missouri. House Bill 2005, signed by Republican Gov. Mike Parson on June 11, curbs the state's power to invoke eminent domain, but initial provisions that targeted the Grain Belt Express were not included in the final version.

Instead, Invenergy has pledged to bring more electricity to Missouri customers, which it claims the project expansions will allow it to do.

New connector line in Missouri

The announcement comes with "limited changes" to the project, according to a news release, including a relocation of the Missouri interconnection point from Ralls County to Monroe County, to the west. The additional power capacity also calls for a 40-mile "Grain Belt Express Tiger Connector" to reach Missouri's McCredie substation. The developer said it will seek input from nearby landowners later in July on the location of the right-of-way.

Invenergy also announced the multistate transmission corridor will be built in two phases, with the Missouri interconnection point as the terminus of phase one.

The Grain Belt Express project has been helped along by Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration, which passed a bill in 2021 easing the approval process. But in the Show-Me State, the project has met obstacles. The transmission build-out was rejected twice by the Missouri Public Service Commission, in 2015 and again in 2017, before its eventual approval in 2019. That greenlighting was promptly challenged by a coalition of Missouri landowners but upheld by the state supreme court.

Midwestern trade groups praised the project and its expansion.

"Grain Belt Express's additional commitment to deliver more power to Missouri could not have come at a better time for businesses in our region who are facing increased risk for outages and higher energy bills due to more demand and less energy production," said Ray McCarty, CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri.

Illinois Manufacturers' Association President and CEO Mark Denzler echoed that praise, adding that "the price and reliability of energy is one of our largest concerns."

On July 6, the U.S. Department of Energy started taking applications for a $2.3 billion grant program, funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law, to strengthen the U.S. power grid as the nation braces for climate change. The Biden administration has also authorized the DOE to spend up to $2.5 billion as an anchor customer for new grid build-outs.

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