AVANGRID has started construction on the $950 million New England Clean Energy Connect project (NECEC) after securing the Presidential Permit from the US Department of Energy.
NECEC is a proposed 144 mile long high voltage transmission line with 1.2 GW capacity, to be laid between Quebec, Canada and Maine, US.
Following the Presidential Permit, the Iberdrola subsidiary has now completed all major permitting for the power line, which will transmit renewable hydropower to the New England energy grid in Lewiston.
AVANGRID has started clearing activities and installation of temporary access roads in preparation for installing the monopoles that will carry the high voltage power line, the company said in a press release.
The NECEC project is partnering with Hydro-Quebec to bring hydropower sourced from Quebec. It is expected to begin operations in 2022 and help in offsetting 3 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually.
The transmission line project will be taken up on land owned or controlled by Central Maine Power. It is expected to generate over 1,600 jobs during the two-and-a-half-years of its construction phase, while providing $200 million in upgrades to Maine's energy grid.
AVANGRID had awarded contracts worth more than $300 million to Cianbro in a joint venture with Irby Construction, Sargent Electric, and Northern Clearing for constructing and upgrading transmission lines and delivering land-clearing for the project.
The new transmission line is expected to bring clean electricity to 1.2 million households in the New England region.
