Tres Amigas Proposes Buried HVDC Line

New Mexico could host the nation’s first buried long-distance high voltage direct current (HVDC) electric transmission network if an ambitious project proposed by Tres Amigas LLC gains traction.

The merchant transmission entity whose mission it is to unite the nation’s three power grids to achieve its renewable energy goals unveiled the 2,000-MW New Mexico Express project to interconnect the Four Corners region to the West and to the Eastern and Texas Interconnections.

As described by Tres Amigas CEO and President Phillip Harris at a Tuesday meeting at the New Mexico Finance Authority, phase two of the project would connect southern New Mexico with a new 400-mile HVDC connection from Eddy County in northwestern New Mexico to Tres Amigas at Clovis in the eastern part of the state. The project would be built by a public-private partnership, the company envisions.

Sources: POWER, Tres Amigas LLC