National Grid is assuming primary ownership of the proposed 400-MW Vermont Green Line Project following the completion of the initial stages of its development.
National Grid and its partners Anbaric Transmission and Citizens Energy Corp. announced on Jan. 17 that National Grid will take over the high-voltage direct current line project from Anbaric. With the conversion of National Grid's and Citizens Energy's development loans into an equity investment in the HVDC project, National Grid will now lead the project while Citizens Energy will continue to be an investor and assist in the development of the transmission project. The Vermont Green Line intends to deliver reliable and affordable renewable energy into the market overseen by ISO New England Inc.
"We're thrilled that National Grid has made this permanent equity investment in VGL as a way to help them meet the needs of the region's energy consumers," said Ed Krapels, the founder and head of Anbaric, in a news release.
The project was announced in March 2015 as a joint venture by National Grid and Anbaric before Citizens Energy, a Boston-based nonprofit founded by former Congressman Joseph Kennedy II, announced its investment in the project in August 2016. Citizens Energy will use its share of the profits to assist working families in Vermont with their energy needs.
The Vermont Green Line will run 59 miles from near Plattsburgh, N.Y., to New Haven, Vt., with approximately 40 miles of the cable proposed to be buried underwater along the lakebed of Lake Champlain.
Originally, the proposed line was meant to carry wind generation from Invenergy LLC, backed up by Canadian hydropower produced by provincial government-owned Hydro-Québec, until their joint proposal was passed over in October 2016 in a clean energy solicitation by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. National Grid is currently soliciting through Feb. 1, 2017, for new capacity buyers under 20-year contracts.
Vermont Green Line is expected to come into service in 2020 or 2021, once final approval is given by state regulators in New York and Vermont.