Construction kicks off at 1.25-GW transmission link in New York

Construction works have officially been initiated at the 1.25-GW Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) transmission line that will bring clean power to New York City from hydropower plants in Canada.

The 339-mile (545.6-km) link is planned to become fully operational in the spring of 2026, New York governor Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday.

CHPE is being developed by Transmission Developers Inc, a Blackstone portfolio company, and Hydro-Quebec. The project, expected to bring USD 3.5 billion (EUR 3.35bn) in economic benefits to New York, was last year selected under the Tier 4 renewable energy solicitation issued by the New York State Energy Research Development and Authority (NYSERDA).

Building works will be first carried out for a 17.6-mile stretch of the transmission route between Putnam and Whitehall, Washington County. The initial stage of construction will involve site preparation near Whitehall and will be completed in November 2024.

Once up and running, the transmission line will deliver electricity to supply more than one million homes.

CHPE is the first of two projects entering construction under awards in NYSERDA’s renewable energy and transmission programme. The other one, the Clean Path NY (CPNY), is set to create a 1.3-GW, 174-mile (280 km) underground transmission line to carry electricity from 3.4 GW of new wind and solar projects in upstate New York.

The contracts for the two projects to provide about 18 TWh of upstate and Canadian renewable energy per year were approved by the New York Public Service Commission in April.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.957)

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