The U.S. Department of Energy issued the final Environmental Impact Statement for the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line on Aug. 8, clearing the project for final permitting.
The $2.2 billion venture is expected to bring up to 1,000 MW of renewable power from Canada to the New York City metropolitan area. The plans call for two, 5-inch-diameter cables to be placed underwater or underground across a route that includes Lake Champlain and the Hudson River.
If undertaken, the 336-mile-long high-voltage transmission system will include the transmission line, transmission line cooling stations at certain locations along the route, a direct current to alternating current converter station, and high-voltage alternating current interconnections from the converter station to the Astoria Annex and the Rainey substations in Queens. The transmission line would be a bipole consisting of two transmission cables, one positively charged and the other negatively charged.
The entire length of the HVDC transmission system would be buried, with the majority of the route beneath Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. The only exceptions would be ancillary above-ground facilities, such as at the converter station and cooling stations. Construction is expected to take about three and a half years.
Renewable power generators based in Canada are expected to be the primary users of the line. Line space would be contracted to them for delivery of their energy to the New York market.
—Aaron Larson, associate editor (@AaronL_Power, @POWERmagazine)