What is the Vermont Green Line?
Name of proposed project:Vermont Green Line
Developer: Anbaric Transmission
Primary Investor: National Grid.
Route: From Beekmantown, N.Y., under Lake Champlain, to Kingsland Bay in Ferrisburgh; then under roads to Route 7 and south to New Haven. Total distance, 60 miles.
Cable: High-voltage direct current cable (HVDC), to carry 400 MW-800 MW (as originally presented). All HVDC cable to be buried underground.
New Haven converter station: Requires 4-5 acres; roughly five stories high and the size of a football field; 50-feet tall, with a footprint of 150 feet by 300 feet. The station converts DC power to AC power. Anbaric has estimated the value of the converter station at $100 million-$150 million.
Proposed site: Anbaric is considering two sites — one just west of the VELCO substation and one off of Town Hill Road.
How much is 400 MW? Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant generated 600 MW.
Proposed consumers: Designed to deliver power to ratepayers in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Why New Haven? New Haven is the northernmost point of VELCO’s 345 kV transmission system, hence the shortest distance from upstate New York to Southern New England. North of New Haven, VELCO has only 115 kV lines.
Similar projects in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire:New England Power Link, Champlain Hudson Power Express, Maine Green Line, Northeast Energy Link, Northern Pass.