Electric Transmission Texas (ETT), a joint venture between subsidiaries of American Electric Power (AEP) and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, has energized the 345kV Riley to Edith Clarke transmission line.
The Riley to Edith Clarke transmission line and the Edith Clarke switching station were energized to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid on 31 July 2013.
The transmission line is the first of seven 345kV transmission line projects associated with the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) initiative in west Texas.
The 345kV Riley to Edith Clarke transmission line is 41.6 miles long and runs from the Vernon area in Wilbarger County to the Crowell area in Foard County.
The ETT CREZ program phase represents about $141.5m of ETT’s estimated total CREZ investment of around $1.bn.
The overall CREZ initiative involves eight different transmission service providers, including ETT, constructing 2,400 miles of transmission lines to carry 18,500MW of west Texas wind generation to eastern load centers in ERCOT.
The project also includes construction of 16 switching stations, as well as acquiring rights-of-way across 578 tracts of land and upgrading existing stations and transmission lines.
ETT president Calvin Crowder said, "In addition to assigning ETT the second largest share of the transmission projects, the PUCT also assigned ETT the largest amount of advanced technology projects associated with the CREZ initiative."