Dive Brief:
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National Grid has proposed a $1 billion transmission project that would be able to bring 1,200 MW of renewable power into New England.
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National Grid’s Granite State Power Link would move the electric power through Vermont for 58 miles before entering New Hampshire at Monroe and ending at Londonderry in southern New Hampshire.
- The route of the proposed project would travel for about 58 miles on the expanded path of an existing high voltage direct current overhead line in Vermont and then use an upgraded existing overhead line in New Hampshire for 108 miles.
Dive Insight:
There are at least six transmission line projects vying to bring renewable resources, mostly hydropower, from Canada into New England. National Grid’s newly proposed transmission line would compete head on with Eversource’s Northern Pass transmission project.
The $1.4 billion Northern Pass project would cover 192 miles from the Canadian border to Franklin, N.H. The Concord Monitor reports that Northern Pass suffered a setback this week when regulators struck down Eversource’s proposal to buy power from the line.
Eversource also ran into problems in northern New Hampshire where local opposition prompted the company to bury part of the Northern Pass line.National Grid, which also has stakes in several other transmission projects in New England, appears to be counting on its use of existing transmission right of ways to speed the approval of its line.
“When you combine the project’s potential to lower regional electricity rates, economic development investment, environmental benefits, its cost-effectiveness, and the minimal visual and environmental impacts to the host communities, it’s clear that GSPL is uniquely positioned to bring clean energy to life in the region,” John Flynn, National Grid senior vice president of business development, said in a statement.
Non-profit Citizens Energy would be an investor in the Granite State project. Citizens has pledged to use 50% of its profits from the project to fund energy assistance programs for local families living in New Hampshire and Vermont.