The US Department of Energy (DOE) has issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Northern Pass power transmission project (NPT), developed by Canadian power group Hydro-Québec.
The 308 km (192-mile) long NPT line would deliver up to 1,090 MW of electricity generated at Hydro-Québec's hydropower plants in Canada to Massachussetts and New Hampshire (United States). A new direct current (DC) line would be built from the Canadian border to Franklin (New Hampshire), where a converter terminal would be built to convert the electricity from DC to alternating current (AC).
The positive FEIS, which concluded that the proposed Northern Pass route is the “preferred alternative” and will have only minimal impacts, is a significant step forward in the permitting process. All major state and federal permits are expected in 2017, and all major contractor and equipment contracts are fully executed. Northern Pass is expected to be substantially complete by the third quarter of 2020 and should be in service by the end of 2020.