The Missouri Public Service Commission has given its approval for the development of the up to 5 GW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) Grain Belt Express transmission line project, which will run for 1,287 km through the US States of Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. Missouri thus became the final State to give its approval for the US$7bn project, after Illinois in March 2023 and Kansas in June 2023.
The Grain Belt Express is expected to deliver over US$11bn in energy cost savings over 15 years and enhance reliability for millions of households and businesses in the US Midwest. The project is targeting to begin construction at the start of 2025, pending federal permitting approvals.
In July 2022, the Chicago-based company Invenergy, which is developing the project, decided to increase the overall power transmission capacity of the Grain Belt Express project from 4 GW to 5 GW. The project will notably increase by fivefold the delivery capacity to the state of Missouri, with an increase in the sizing of the line’s mid-point delivery converter station from 500 MW to 2.5 GW.