Buried transmission line would deliver Canadian hydro power to southern New England
| Twin State Clean Energy Link will carry 1,200 MW of Canadian hydropower through the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont under the Connecticut River between Lunenberg and Dalton to an existing substation in Monroe, the Journal-Opinion reports today. 1200 megawatts is almost twice the output of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant that closed a decade ago. National Grid and Citizens Energy are lead project partners and are seeking federal investment through the United States Department of Energy Transmission Facilitation Program. Details were released yesterday. The project will develop new underground transmission lines from the international border to Monroe. It will then use the existing overhead transmission line corridor, owned by National Grid, that travels through Monroe, Bath, Haverhill, Benton, Warren, Wentworth, and beyond (see map below). How will the existing overhead lines change? According to the Twin States website: “The existing National Grid (New England Power) transmission corridor in New Hampshire extends from Monroe to Londonderry. Over a vast majority of that distance, from Monroe to Litchfield, the Twin States would simply need to reconductor the existing transmission lines, while replacing a small portion of them due to condition, or to provide the appropriate clearance for the new wires. A vast majority of the transmission structures in place now will remain, with two new wires replacing the existing conductor and the existing shield wire being replaced.” If Twin States Clean Energy Link sounds familiar, it’s because it is. National Grid pitched a variation under the moniker Granite State Power Link in 2017. At that time, the project relied on new overhead lines from the Canada border through Vermont and to the existing substation in Monroe. |