Hitachi Energy AG will reserve manufacturing capacity for Grid United LLC, an independent developer seeking to boost high-voltage transmission capacity between the eastern and western US power grids, under a new collaboration.
The announcement, made March 20 on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, comes as US developers face long lead times for high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission components amid a global supply crunch.
"There's a real challenge in terms of meeting demand for new electric equipment, particularly HVDC equipment," Grid United founder and CEO Michael Skelly told reporters at the conference.
The collaboration, described as a "multi-contract framework," will allow Hitachi Energy to scale up its manufacturing capacity as Grid United advances a portfolio of HVDC projects that would establish more links between the Eastern and Western Interconnections.
Limited ties between the two asynchronous grids exist. Direct-current technology is required to transfer power between the systems without disrupting their frequency.
Hitachi Energy CEO Claudio Facchin noted that the company developed a similar multi-contract approach to meet European demand for HVDC technology. The approach has enabled the Hitachi Ltd. subsidiary to help Germany and the Netherlands install roughly 30 GW of offshore wind transmission capacity in the North Sea, Facchin said.
"In order to do that, we had to do two things. Number one was planning," Facchin told reporters.
Second, the company worked to standardize and modularize its technology so that only 20% of components for individual projects were customized. "That allows us to scale our capacity," Facchin said.
Skelly added that the collaboration will see Hitachi Energy provide "technical acumen" for the design and engineering of Grid United projects.
The company's project portfolio includes four proposed HVDC transmission lines with East-West connections.
The North Plains Connector, a $3.2 billion line that will run approximately 400 miles from central North Dakota to Colstrip, Mont., is furthest along in development. A Grid United subsidiary signed a development agreement for the project last year with Duluth, Minn.-headquartered Allete Inc., which plans to own up to 35% of the project and would oversee its operation.
Grid United's other three proposed lines — the 100-mile Wyoming Intertie project, 300-mile Three Corners Connector between Pueblo, Colo., and the Oklahoma panhandle, and 500-mile Continental Connector between Santa Fe County, NM, and Ford County, Kan. — are still in the early planning phases, with target in-service dates ranging from 2028 to 2030.
Hitachi Energy's HVDC technology is being deployed on two major interregional projects under construction in the US.
Transmission Developers Inc.'s Champlain Hudson Power Express project, set to come online in 2026, will use Hitachi Energy's technology to deliver up to 1,250 MW of Canadian hydropower to the New York Metro area.
Pattern Energy Group LP is contracting with Hitachi Energy for its 550-mile SunZia transmission line, a multi-phase project that will initially be capable of shipping up to 3,000 MW of mostly wind generation from New Mexico to Arizona. The project's first phase is expected to enter commercial operation in 2026. A second phase, expected to come online in 2028, would raise the SunZia line's capacity to 4,500 MW.
Grid United's 280-mile Southline project, which will also connect New Mexico and Arizona, was one of three projects recently selected for up to $1.2 billion in support through the US Energy Department's Transmission Facilitation Program.
