No electrical generation projects of any kind, renewable or non-renewable, can be connected to the power transmission grid without an interconnection agreement from the system operator. In order to get an interconnection agreement, developers must place a candidate project in an ‘interconnection queue,’ and wait while the system operator completes studies to estimate the impact of the queued projects on the power lines, and the cost of any new lines and other upgrades that will be required before any new projects can be put on line.
Tim Simons, CEO of Crownbutte Wind Power, said: “Obtaining this interconnection agreement is a major milestone for Crownbutte’s Gascoyne I project, and means that construction can begin as soon as project financing has been obtained.”
Crownbutte Wind Power is a North Dakota-based developer of merchant wind power parks, with a current pipeline of over 640MW of projects in various stages of development across North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.
