Several transmission developers are going forward with permitting for projects to deliver low-carbon energy into New England after their bids failed to be selected in Massachusetts' solicitation for Canadian hydropower and renewables.
Eversource Energy's 1,090-MW Northern Pass transmission project was chosen Jan. 25 from more than 45 transmission and renewable energy projects that vied to deliver up to 9.45 terawatt-hours per year of electricity as a means of cutting greenhouse gas emissions across ISO New England's market.
As reported by the Associated Press, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has promised a thorough review of the selection process. The awarding of the 20-year contract is still conditional upon successful contract negotiations and regulatory approval. State officials anticipate final project selection by April 25.
Slated to start construction by mid-2018 and come online by the end of 2020, Northern Pass's $1.6 billion high-voltage, direct-current, or HVDC, line would deliver hydropower generated by Hydro-Québec over 192 miles. In addition to U.S. permits, Northern Pass is also waiting for final regulatory approval from Canada's National Energy Board.
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The competition: Down but not out
Don Jessome, CEO of TDI New England, said in a news release that the Transmission Developers Inc. subsidiary remains wholeheartedly committed to its fully permitted 1,000-MW New England Clean Power Link HVDC project.
Under the New England Clean Power Link's two rejected bids, the entirely underground line would have been operational in 2019. If built, the $1.2 billion, 300-kV to 320-kV line would run approximately 98 miles underwater from the Canadian border through Lake Champlain to Benson, Vt., before running another 56 miles to a new converter station slated in Ludlow, Vt.
Despite also losing out in the request for proposals, the 1,040-MW Maine Power Express HVDC project might still see its power lines run more than 300 miles underground and undersea from southern Aroostook County, Maine, to a converter station in Boston. Maine Power Express project manager Ryan Gahagan said in a statement that the project's developers are encouraged with New England states' efforts to solicit clean energy projects through requests for proposals and look forward to participating in future procurements. The developers behind Maine Power Express, which had a slated in-service date of 2022, are Consolidated Edison Inc. subsidiary Con Edison Transmission Inc. and Maine Power Express LLC, a joint venture of Loring Holdings, National Resources Energy LLC and Transmission Developers Inc.
Emera Inc. said it will likewise carry on with its 1,000-MW Atlantic Link as the Nova Scotia-based utility assesses the outcome of the Massachusetts solicitation and future market opportunities. The 375-mile-long HVDC project seeks to essentially replace Entergy Corp.'s retiring Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Mass. by importing hydropower over a submarine cable from Coleson Cove, New Brunswick to a proposed converter station near the facility. The nuclear power plant is slated to cease operations in May 2019.
Subsea connection
"Connecting New England to new sources of affordable clean energy in Atlantic Canada, along a reliable subsea transmission connection, remains a compelling opportunity that would bring significant value to the market," said Emera Inc. President and CEO Chris Huskilson in a statement.
Avangrid Inc. subsidiary Central Maine Power Co. said in an email that the company is also sticking with its proposal to deliver Canadian wind and hydropower over its 1,200-MW New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project at a cost of $950 million. The proposed route of the 320-kV HVDC line runs 145 miles from the Canadian border in western Somerset County, Maine, to a new converter station in Lewiston, Maine.
Central Maine Power spokesman John Carroll told Maine Public that Central Maine Power is confident that new transmission through Maine will still be needed to tap into new renewable resources. Central Maine Power is also pursuing permits for its second, smaller transmission project, the 345-kV Maine Clean Power Connection, which varied in its capacity size from 460 MW to 1,110 MW in its rejected proposals with a combination of wind, solar and storage in eastern Canada and western Maine.
National Grid plc spokesman Chris Milligan said in an email that subsidiary National Grid Ventures is evaluating its next steps and remains committed to advancing its 1,200-MW Granite State Power Link and 600-MW Northeast Renewable Link transmission projects, which were submitted to the request for proposals with its Boston-based partner, Citizens Energy Corp. Slated to be in service by the end of 2022, the $1.1 billion Granite State Power Link seeks to deliver new wind power from Quebec and would run 59 miles as an overhead 400-kV HVDC line from Norton, Vt., near the U.S.-Canada border to Monroe, N.H. The HVDC line's interconnection would require upgrading approximately 109 miles of existing alternating-current transmission lines into Londonderry, N.H.
With an in-service date of late 2021 or early 2022, the 345-kV Northeast Renewable Link is designed to transmit a mix of new wind, solar and small hydropower generated in New York and would run 23 miles from Nassau, N.Y., to an Eversource substation in Hinsdale, Mass. National Grid USA is the American arm of U.K.-based National Grid.

