The Tres Amigas SuperStation () is a planned project to unite North America’s two major power grids (the

Eastern Interconnection The Eastern Interconnection is one of the two major alternating-current (AC) electrical grids in the North American power transmission grid. The other major interconnection is the Western Interconnection. The three minor interconnections a ...

and the

Western Interconnection The Western Interconnection is a wide area synchronous grid and one of the two major alternating current (AC) power grids in the North American power transmission grid. The other major wide area synchronous grid is the Eastern Interconnecti ...

) and one of its eight minor grids (the

Texas Interconnection The Texas Interconnection is an alternating current (AC) power grid – a wide area synchronous grid – that covers most of the state of Texas. The grid is managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The Texas Inter ...

), with the goals of enabling faster adoption of renewable energy and increasing the reliability of the U.S. grid.Superconductors to Wire a Smarter Grid
''

Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...

'', 2009-11-12, accessed 2010-11-20. The project will use superconducting wires from Massachusetts-based

American Superconductor American Superconductor (AMSC) is an American energy technologies company based in Ayer, Massachusetts specializing in the design and manufacture of power systems and superconducting wire. It owns AMSC Windtech in Klagenfurt, Austria. Detroit E ...

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 PJM Interconnection LLC (PJM) is a regional transmission organization (RTO) in the United States. It is part of the Eastern Interconnection grid operating an electric transmission system serving all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kent ...

, an East Coast regional transmission organization (RTO). The project eventually failed because ERCOT, Texas' power regulator, refused to connect

Overview

The Tres Amigas SuperStation project proposes to tie the East Coast, West Coast and Texas grids together via three 5 GW Superconductivity, superconductive

high-voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

power transmission line Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is d ...

s, which permit a controlled flow of energy while also functionally isolating the independent AC frequencies of each side. Isolation is important because while all three grids have a nominal frequency of 60 Hz, their true frequencies at any given time can fluctuate by a significant margin (± 0.1 Hz), rendering the synchronization of the grids essentially impossible and leaving them out-of-phase from one another. With DC-links, however, the design can be scaled 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. The

has 5 DC ties to the other grids, totaling 1,100 MW."US grids to become ‘three friends’"
''GreenBang'', 4 April 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2012. The project will provide solar, wind and other renewable developers with the transmission infrastructure needed to transport clean electricity to population centers. Tres Amigas eventually failed because ERCOT, Texas' power regulator, refused to connect

Location

The Tres Amigas super station will be located on a state plot of land near

Clovis, New Mexico Clovis is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico. The city had a population of 37,775 as of the 2010 census, and a 2019 estimated population of 38,319. Clovis is located in the New Mexico portion of the Llano Estacado, in the ...

,Oct 2009 The Tres Amigas Project: America's Renewable Energy Hub?
/ref> leased for 99 years at $9 million per year.Hart, Kathleen
"Senate, House energy leaders setting priorities for 112th Congress"
''WYOMING INFRASTRUCTURE AUTHORITY'', 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2012. Quote: "Tres Amigas will pay the state over $9 million a year"

Cost

Early estimates of the cost put the project budget at around $1 billion, and later at $2 billion.Galbraith, Kate
"Texas' Isolated Electric Grid Could Add Outside Ties"
''

The Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a news website headquartered in Austin, Texas. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. Its website and content in various delivery platforms serve as an alternati ...

'', 30 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.

Project schedule and status

Proposed in 2009.US unveils plans for giant renewable energy hub
Oct 2009 In 2011, Tres Amigas SuperStation (TAS) awarded Alstom Grid a €150m (£132.4m) contract for a 750MW, 345kV DC converter scheme "Alstom Grid wins contract for Tres Amigas' SuperStation"
''

The Engineer (UK magazine) ''The Engineer'' is a London-based monthly magazine and website covering the latest developments and business news in engineering and technology in the UK and internationally. History and description ''The Engineer'' was founded in January 185 ...

'', 26 April 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2012. for a VSC connecting PNM and

Xcel Energy Xcel Energy Inc. is an American utility holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving more than 3.7 million electric customers and 2.1 million natural gas customers in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico in 2019. It consists of four ope ...

in 2014. Construction was planned to begin in Summer 2012.Robinson-Avila, Kevin
"Huge Tres Amigas project to break ground this summer"
''New Mexico Business Weekly'', 9 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012. In 2010, Scandia Wind Southwest LLC proposed to build an initial 2,250 megawatts of wind power in the

Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...

, with a potential capacity of 10,000 MW. Tres Amigas could distribute this power, but it met some opposition.''Proposal to Link the Nation's Grid Sparks a Debate'' Feb 2010
/ref> Phase 1, the connection of East Coast and West Coast grids, could cost $400 million, and all 3 phases could then cost $1.2 billion.Welch, Kevin
"Amarillo hopes to be electricity project center"
''

Amarillo Globe-News The ''Amarillo Globe-News'' is a daily newspaper in Amarillo, Texas, owned by Gannett. The newspaper is based at downtown's FirstBank Southwest Tower, but is printed at a facility in Lubbock. History The current-day ''Globe-News'' is a combina ...

'', 21 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012. In 2012, then-President

Ben Shelly Ben Shelly (born July 6, 1947) was the 7th one-term president of the Navajo Nation. Shelly was the first president to have been elected both president and vice president of the Navajo Nation. He is also the first New Mexican Navajo to hold the Na ...

of the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Indian reservation, reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwe ...

expressed interest in investing $12 million in the project."Navajo Nation to Invest in Electric Grid Interconnection Project"
''

Indian Country Today ''ICT News'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a daily digital news platform that covers the Indigenous world, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and First Nations. It was founded in 1981 as a weekly print newspaper, ''The ...

'', 8 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012. In 2013, two key announcements confirmed the ongoing progress of the project, and an expected commercial load date of 2016. The company will move its headquarters to downtown

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

, in the former Petroleum Club building. In 2015, the

Southwest Power Pool Southwest Power Pool (SPP) manages the electric grid and wholesale power market for the central United States. As a regional transmission organization, the nonprofit corporation is mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure ...

(SPP) cancelled an agreement with the project. In February 2017, it was announced that the project was still progressing but would be significantly scaled back from the previous full project estimate of $1.5 billion to $200 million. The project is also subject to possible relocation due to reduced land needs. The project eventually failed because ERCOT, Texas' power regulator, refused to connect

References

External links