Pattern Energy’s affiliate has filed a petition for a siting certificate with the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) for a preferred route plan for the Southern Cross transmission project.
The route will pass through the Mississippi River in Issaquena Count and continue eastward through Washington, Sharkey, Humphreys, Holmes, Carroll, Montgomery, Choctaw, Oktibbeha, Clay, and Monroe counties.
It will tehn terminate at a converter station to be developed in Lowndes County.
The landowners on the route will secure notice by letter in the coming weeks.
In the coming months, the commission will assess the project and issue order based on the results of the review.
With a base load capacity of 2,000MW, Southern Cross project is a ±500 kilovolt high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line, which will connect excess and cost-competitive wind energy in Texas to the transmission grid and customers in the Southeast.
Expected to start construction in 2018, the project is slated to be operational in 2021. During the construction phase, the project will create around 650 jobs.
Under the project, the high-voltage and HVDC converter station will be constructed in Northwest Louisiana, and around 400 miles of HVDC transmission lines across Louisiana and Mississippi.
Pattern Energy CEO Mike Garland said: "Reaching this major milestone is the result of several years of work to identify the optimal placement of the line through a combination of science, engineering, and engaging with landowners, farmers, foresters, and each of the municipalities in the towns and counties along the route.
"The Southern Cross project will be one of the nation's first overhead HVDC transmission lines constructed in nearly two decades – and all of the capital investment required for the project is being provided by private investors.”
Image: Pattern Energy’s route plan for Southern Cross transmission project. Photo: courtesy of PRNewsfoto / Pattern Energy Group LP.