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Champlain Hudson Power Express Begins Installation Work in Lake Champlain

CHAMPLAIN HUDSON POWER EXPRESS BEGINS INSTALLATION WORK IN LAKE CHAMPLAIN

Initial 1.3-mile cable section floated along Lake Champlain to the United States-Canadian border for eventual cross-border interconnection to Hydro-Québec

Transmission line will supply New York City with clean, renewable energy beginning in 2026

NEW YORK – The Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) today celebrated its latest construction milestone, announcing that cables have been floated across the United States-Canadian border marking the official start of marine installation work in Lake Champlain, an important step forward in this project’s development as it continues to make progress towards providing New York City with clean, renewable energy starting in 2026.

The initial approximately 1.3-mile section of the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power cables were floated from a cable installation vessel, positioned south of the wooden train trestle bridge in Rouses Point, along the surface of Lake Champlain to the US-Canadian border in the Richelieu River. A further 330-ft section will be passed over the border to CHPE’s partner, Hydro-Québec, for connection to the Hertel-New York Interconnection Line Project.

Once in position, the cables will be lowered into the water where divers will work to bury them in the lakebed as the project progresses. The main cable lay installation vessel, along with two cable transport barges, will now begin its almost 100-mile southward journey, simultaneously laying and burying HVDC cable as it brings the power cables to their landing point in Putnam Station.

“Today marks a significant milestone in our journey to bring clean, renewable energy to New York City,” said Transmission Developers CEO Justin Sauber. “The commencement of the marine installation works in Lake Champlain is yet another example of how the tireless efforts of so many over the past decade are coming to fruition as this remarkable project marches forward to 2026.”

“This is an important milestone for CHPE and this innovative project that is serving as a model for how continued energy diversification and interconnected grids will play a critical role in securing a clean energy future,” said Hydro-Québec Energy Services Chief Operating Officer Serge Abergel. “We congratulate the CHPE construction team on this achievement and look forward to completing the cross-border interconnection work later this year, and delivering clean, renewable energy to New York City in 2026.”

CHPE has been in development for over a decade and is the largest clean energy project ever constructed in New York State, as well as the largest fully-buried transmission line in North America. It will carry 1,250 MW of clean, renewable energy from Québec to Queens, where it will provide 20% of New York City’s annual energy needs and power more than 1 million homes. CHPE broke ground on the transmission line in November 2022 in Whitehall, and on the Astoria converter site, where the clean energy will enter the grid, in September 2023. The inaugural HVDC cable run was installed underground in January, and CHPE will begin supplying New York with clean, renewable energy in 2026.

About the Champlain Hudson Power Express

CHPE involves the construction of an underground and underwater transmission line spanning approximately 339 miles between the Canada–U.S. border and New York City.

CHPE will also provide competitively priced hydropower from Québec that is expected to lower climate emissions and local air pollutants, as well as electricity generation costs throughout the state by $17 billion over the first 25 years of operation, all the while providing increased reliability and resiliency for the downstate grid. The project also provides a total of $3.5 billion in economic benefits to New Yorkers and creates approximately 1,400 good-paying jobs during construction, with a commitment to use union labor. CHPE will provide an economic boost to 73 municipalities and 59 school districts throughout New York State with an increase in incremental tax revenue of $1.4 billion in funding for local communities over the first 25 years of the project.