Xcel Proposes Wind Energy Line Routes - WJON News
Xcel Proposes Wind Energy Line Routes
UNDATED ( WJON News) - Xcel Energy has proposed two route options for the Minnesota Energy Connection.
The 175-mile-long transmission line will connect solar and wind energy from Southwest Minnesota with customers in Central Minnesota. The new line will bring 4,000 megawatts of renewable energy to the area, replacing the power generated at the retiring Sherco Coal Plant.
Chris Clark, president of Xcel Energy–Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota says the project continues Xcel’s commitment to renewable energy.
Xcel Energy was the first major power company in the nation to set a vision for delivering 100% carbon-free electricity to its customers. Expanding our transmission network allows us to accelerate our progress toward this vision by maximizing our use of the renewable energy we already generate and clearing the way to add new generation to the grid.
The planned routes would follow existing corridors whenever possible, like roads and existing transmission lines, to minimize the impact on natural resources, historic sites, and recreational areas.
Michael Lamb, senior vice president, of customer delivery, gas, and electric with Xcel Energy, says the routes will bring low-cost power to Central Minnesota.
Southwest Minnesota holds some of the richest wind resources in the country. Proposing route options in this application for the Minnesota Energy Connection brings the transmission line one step closer to harnessing these resources to better provide clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to the communities we serve.
State regulators will now review the plan, the permit applications, and the certificate of need. The approval process takes 12 to 15 months and includes an opportunity for public comment.
For more information on the proposed routes, find the map here.
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.