(Montréal) Le nouveau projet de livraison d’électricité par Hydro-Québec à l’État de New York a franchi une étape clé, et la construction de la ligne du côté américain doit s’amorcer cet été, a société la société condition.
Posted at 6:12 PM
Hydro-Quebec announced Thursday that the New York Public Utilities Commission has approved the contract between the Quebec State Corporation and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
Commissioners voted 5 to 2, to approve the contract, in what constitutes “the last step to be taken before work begins in the United States,” Hydro-Quebec noted.
Hydro-Québec’s flagship project will deliver 10.4 TWh of electricity annually to New York City via a 545-kilometre “buried from start to finish” transmission line, the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE).
Hydro-Québec said in a press release that its transmission partner developers (TDI) will begin building the line on the US side during the summer, with a goal of commissioning in 2025.
In Quebec, construction of the line could begin in the spring of 2023, according to Hydro-Quebec, while it is still subject to reviews from Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) and Régie de Canada’s Energy.
The line in Quebec will also be completely buried, with 56.1 kilometers of tunnel line and 1.6 kilometers of submarine line. It shall connect the Hertel sub-station, at La Prairie, to an anchor point in the Richelieu River, on the border between Canada and the United States.
Regarding approval in the United States, Hydro-Québec President and CEO Sophie Brochaux has argued that “New Yorkers chose clean hydropower from Quebec to meet 20% of the electricity needs of the largest American city.
“This is an eloquent demonstration of what we can do together to decarbonize Northeast America with a project that sets an example for an equitable energy transition,” she said in a press release.
According to Hydro-Québec, the 1,250 megawatts annually of clean, renewable hydroelectric power supplied to New York City corresponds to the consumption of more than one million homes.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding announced in June 2021, the Mohawk Board of Kahnawake and Hydro-Québec will jointly own the line to be built in Quebec.
Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer, the senior president of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, spoke at the release of an “important turning point” for the community.
“It will allow us to continue fulfilling our environmental stewardship responsibilities to protect Mother Earth, including from the dangers of global warming and other climate changes. But more than that, it will ensure that Indigenous peoples can participate as trading partners and have a say in future economic activities.”