Rock Island Clean Line

The Rock Island Clean Line is a proposed 500-mile high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line.[1] The stated purpose of the line is to transport electrical power from wind energy dense states in the Midwestern United States (Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota) to the energy markets in the Chicago, Illinois, and cities further east. The planned line would run from the Sanborn, Iowa area to near Morris, Illinois.[2] The developer, Clean Line Energy Partners, is targeting an operational date of 2017.

The region where the line would start has large potential for wind generation, but currently already can produce all the electricity it can use or transport out of the region on existing transmission lines.[3] The line would have the capacity to transport up to 3500 megawatts of power out of the region.[3] An economic study for the line estimates that it could transmit the power of eight 500 MW wind farms in the siouxland area.[4]

The Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission approved the line in May 2012. In November 2014, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved it. As of January 2016, the Iowa Utilities Board has not yet approved it.[5]

Opposition to the Rock Island Clean Line is organized by Block RICL, which claims that the line will carry mostly non-wind energy (i.e., coal) and will use an unreasonably large amount of land.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Deal with Downstate cable plant to bring 1,450 jobs". Chicago Sun-Times. Associated Press. 2012-03-06. Archived from the original on 2012-08-26. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  2. "Maps & Location". Rock Island Clean Line. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  3. Haugen, Dan (2011-12-05). "New transmission line would ease Iowa wind bottleneck". Midwest Energy News. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  4. Carlson, J. Lon; Loomis, David G.; Solow, John L. (2011-03-16). Economic Impact Study of the Proposed Rock Island Clean Line (PDF) (Report). Loomis Consulting. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  5. "Regulatory Approvals". Rock Island Clean Line. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  6. "About RICL". Block RICL. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.