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Tdworld 3232 Lakechamplain
Tdworld 3232 Lakechamplain
Tdworld 3232 Lakechamplain
Tdworld 3232 Lakechamplain
Tdworld 3232 Lakechamplain

Proposed Vermont Green Line Would Deliver Power Under Lake Champlain

Sept. 9, 2015
In addition to transmitting energy from wind turbines, the Vermont Green Line would also deliver hydropower from Quebec to New England.

Anbaric, an energy company out of Massachusetts, is proposing a $200 million transmission project. Known as the Vermont Green Line, it would deliver renewable energy from new wind farms in northern counties through an underwater cable on the bottom of Lake Champlain to southern New England.

According to an article in The Press RepublicanAnbaric, in conjunction with National Grid, plans on building a converter station adjacent to the New York Power Authority substation on Durand Road in Beekmantown, New York.

Energy from wind farms would be sent to the station, where it would be converted to HVDC power. The power would then be sent through an underground cable that would travel under Lake Champlain, buried 4 feet under the lake bottom sediment. The cable would stretch about 40 miles south on the lake bottom, emerging in Vermont, near New Haven, where power would be distributed to southern New England communities, the Press Republican reported.

In addition to transmitting energy from wind turbines, the Vermont Green Line would also deliver hydropower from Quebec to New England.

The permitting process for the project could take up to two years as they secure property right-of-ways and figure out the exact path of the transmission cable. Construction could take another two years.

The New England states have collectively committed to meeting an increasing share of their electricity needs with renewable energy sources. Each year this need grows by the equivalent of 400-500 MW of new wind farm capacity, however, siting difficulties and transmission constraints are making it increasingly difficult to meet this need from resources located within New England. The Vermont Green Line will enable the delivery of renewable power to New England from northern New York, where resources are similarly bottle-necked by intrastate transmission constraints.

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