GE Energy Connections has been selected by Clean Line Energy to supply HVDC converter stations for the 720 mile Plains & Extension Clean Line transmission project being built at a cost of $2.5bn in the US.

The project will transmit 4GW of low cost clean energy from Oklahoma Panhandle region to Arkansas, Tennessee and other states in the Mid-South and Southeast to power more than one million homes.

The US Department of Energy back in March this year said that it will participate in the development of the project. Construction of the project is scheduled to start in the second half of 2017.

For GE, the project will also mark the company’s first HVDC line, since the acquisition of Alstorm’s energy business in 2015.

 

The overhead line will meet the growing demand of renewable energy from remote wind power projects.

GE Energy Connections president and CEO Russell Stokes said: "We are pleased to partner with Clean Line Energy on this transformational clean energy project.

"Our exclusive agreement to provide HVDC technology for the Plains & Eastern Clean Line Project will pave the way for substantial growth in the U.S. renewable energy industry."

Clean Line Energy president Michael Skelly said: "This project will benefit from the experience and leadership that GE brings to bear in modernizing the U.S. electric grid.

“They have been at the forefront of many of our nation's largest infrastructure projects and will ensure that leading technology will be used to provide affordable, clean energy to the Mid-South and Southeast."

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said: “We are excited to see GE, the world's premier digital industrial company, working with Clean Line Energy on a transmission line that will harness and export Oklahoma's great wind resource.

“Our Oklahoma First Energy Plan advocates an all-of-the-above energy strategy, and we are proud to see GE once again involved in an effort that will ensure Oklahoma continues to be a leader in all energy production for decades to come.”

Image:  The Rio Maderia converter station Brazil. Photo: Courtesy of GE