Energy Department Announces Participation in Clean Line’s Large-Scale Energy Transmission Project
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
Energy Department Announces Participation in Clean Line’s Large-Scale Energy Transmission Project
March 25, 2016 - 12:59pm
WASHINGTON — Building on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) ongoing efforts to modernize the grid and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, today U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz announced that DOE will participate in the development of the Plains & Eastern Clean Line Project (Clean Line), a major clean energy infrastructure project.
The Clean Line project will tap abundant, low-cost wind generation resources in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandle regions to deliver up to 4,000 megawatts of wind power via a 705-mile direct current transmission line — enough energy to power more than 1.5 million homes in the mid-South and Southeast United States.
This marks the first use of Congressional authority conferred to DOE as part of Section 1222 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 with the objective of promoting transmission development. Congress passed this provision when it was becoming clear that our nation’s transmission infrastructure was beginning to show its age and needed modernization. Congress recognized the need for a modern and resilient grid that could accommodate increasing demands for power with newly available resources. Based on our thorough review of the Clean Line project, it satisfies the goals for which Congress established DOE’s authority.
“Moving remote and plentiful power to areas where electricity is in high demand is essential for building the grid of the future,” Secretary Moniz said. “Building modern transmission that delivers renewable energy to more homes and businesses will create jobs, cut carbon emissions, and enhance the reliability of our grid.”
The project will, if built, address infrastructure challenges outlined in the 2015 Quadrennial Energy Review (QER), which focused on Energy Transmission, Storage and Distribution Infrastructure. The QER acknowledged the importance of establishing transmission lines to facilitate remote generation development of renewable energy. The QER found that new long-distance transmission capacity like Clean Line has the potential to enable lower-carbon electricity, enhance system reliability and operate at a reasonable cost to consumers.
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Read more: http://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-participation-clean-line-s-large-scale-energy-transmission-1