'Monumental step' | Construction starts on giga-scale Canada-to-US clean power trunk line
The 1.25GW Champlain Hudson Power Express is the largest merchant green transmission line to be fully permitted and advance in recent years
Construction has started on the 545km (339-mile) underground high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line project that will deliver 1.25GW of hydropower-backed electricity from Quebec, Canada, to New York City.
The $3bn Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) is the largest merchant renewable energy power line project that has been fully permitted and entered construction since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. Plans call for it to be fully operational in spring 2026.
“Our state is setting yet another example of what climate action looks like,” said New York state Governor Kathy Hochul, calling the project a “monumental step toward protecting our environment and creating family-sustaining, green jobs in both upstate and downstate New York.”
Her office estimates CHPE will bring $3.5bn in economic benefits to New Yorkers while reducing carbon emissions statewide by 37 million metric tons annually.
CHPE will run underground with 60% of the US route passing beneath Lake Champlain and the Hudson, Harlem, and East Rivers, and 40% mostly under railroad right-of-way via a pair of five-inch (127mm) diameter lines.
Transmission Developers, a Blackstone portfolio company, is majority owner of CHPE with Hydro-Quebec holding the balance. Hydro-Quebec CEO Sophie Brochu said the project will “change the energy landscape of our entire region,” adding that “decarbonization is our common goal.”
The project is a key part of efforts by Hochul’s administration to accelerate progress toward meeting the state’s 2030 goal to be powered 70% by renewable energy versus 29% in 2019, the last year for which data is available.
New York is fifth among US states in electricity consumption with about 140 million TWh behind Texas, California, Florida, and Ohio.
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