Tres Amigas Project
| Tres Amigas SuperStation | |
|---|---|
 Tres Amigas SuperStation
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| Official name | Tres Amigas SuperStation |
| Coordinates | 34°24′N 103°05′W / 34.400°N 103.083°WCoordinates: 34°24′N 103°05′W / 34.400°N 103.083°W |
| Status | Planning |
| Owner(s) | Tres Amigas LLP |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 30 GW |
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Website www |
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 Official bronze sculpture KKathy LarsenTransmission as art, New Mexico-style Platts 11 August 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2012 |
The Tres Amigas SuperStation is a planned project to unite North America’s two major power grids (the Eastern Interconnection and the Western Interconnection) and one minor grid (the Texas Interconnection), with the goal to enable faster adoption of renewable energy and increase the reliability of the U.S. grid. The project will use superconducting wires from Massachusetts-based American Superconductor Corp for electrical distribution and to interconvert alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) power.
Proposed by Tres Amigas, LLC in 2009, the project is in the process of finalizing funding. Permits and construction contracts are in place. CEO Phillip G. Harris is the former CEO of PJM Interconnection, an East Coast regional transmission organization (RTO).
The Tres Amigas SuperStation project proposes to tie the East Coast, West Coast and Texas grids together via three 5 GW superconductive high-voltage direct current power transmission lines, which permit a controlled flow of energy while also functionally isolating the independent AC frequencies of each side. The design is scalable to 30 GW. Tres Amigas would use high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire supplied by American Superconductor Corp.
The Tres Amigas SuperStation plans to act as a power market hub, enabling the buying and selling of electricity among three of North America's largest interconnections above the amount available today. ERCOT has 5 DC ties to the other grids, totaling 1,100 MW.
The project will provide solar, wind and other renewable developers with the transmission infrastructure needed to transport clean electricity to population centers.
The Tres Amigas super station will be located on a 22-square-mile (57 km2) state plot of land near Clovis, New Mexico, leased for 99 years at $9 million per year.
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