Empire State Connector Corp. (ESC), a private company wholly owned by oneGRID Corp. and Forum Equity Partners, says it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Invenergy to deliver up to 600 MW of energy from new Upstate New York wind projects to downstate electricity customers.
According to ESC, these wind generation projects represent approximately $1.2 billion of new economic development activity in Upstate New York, for a total of $2.7 billion when combined with the $1.5 billion estimated construction cost of the ESC.
ESC says that this MOU confirms Invenergy’s intention to deliver competitively priced renewable wind generation to customers in New York City on the Empire State Connector transmission project, which could be an important step in implementation of the 50% by 2030 Clean Energy Standard under consideration by the New York State Public Service Commission.
“There exists strong interest in our proprietary transmission project as evidenced by this MOU,” says John Douglas, CEO of ESC. “Once our formal solicitation is completed this summer, we look forward to entering into binding service agreements with generators like Invenergy interested to capitalize on our proprietary low-impact route. Our private-sector solution will help New York State fund other important priorities, like education and housing.”
ESC is developing a 1,000 MW HVDC transmission project known as the Empire State Connector that will allow upstate generators to physically deliver energy and capacity directly into New York City via two submarine cables buried in the Erie Canal and the Hudson River. The underwater route is expected to have minimal environmental impact and no visual impact. The route will slice through existing transmission congestion that has plagued New York for years, ESC asserts.
