3,200-MW transmission line connecting California, Arizona gets federal approval

The U.S. Interior Department on July 14 said it has authorized the construction of the 125-mile, 500-kV Ten West Link Transmission Line project, a power line expected to deliver energy from some of the nation's most robust solar resources.

The 3,200-MW capacity line will transmit energy along a route between central Arizona and southern California, where two major solar generation projects have already been approved: Intersect Power LLC's 500-MW Oberon Renewable Energy Project, and Clearway Energy Group LLC's 200-MW Victory Pass Solar Project.

Utility regulators in California and Arizona have already approved their respective portions of the Ten West Link project.

"Approving this new transmission line on our public lands will accelerate our nation's transition to a clean energy economy by unlocking renewable resources, creating jobs, lowering costs, and boosting local economies," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a July 14 statement.

The Interior Department's approval allows developer Delaney Colorado River Transmission to start building the line, which will run from Arizona Public Service Co.'s Delaney substation near Tonopah, Ariz., to the Arizona-California border, then another 21.5 miles to Southern California Edison Co.'s Colorado River substation in Riverside County, Calif.

The project, estimated to cost $389 million, is expected to be placed into service in 2023. It is 75% owned by Starwood Energy Group Global LLC and 25% owned by Abengoa SA.

The Interior Department noted that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, an agency within Interior, is processing 64 utility-scale onshore clean energy projects proposed on public lands in the West.

Those projects include solar, wind and geothermal generation, as well as transmission interconnections "vital to clean energy projects proposed on non-federal land," the Interior Department said. Overall, the projects represent 41 GW in proposed renewable energy capacity.

In April, the Interior Department reported that it is already on pace to exceed a goal of permitting 25 GW of renewable energy resources on federal lands by 2025. That goal was set by a bipartisan coronavirus aid and economic stimulus bill signed into law by former U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of 2020.

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