After nearly twenty years of requesting approval, SunZia was finally granted permission to provide its consumers with clean energy. As soon as they obtained a fund of $11 billion, they quickly began building on the biggest clean energy project in the United States that will provide their consumers with enough energy supply, especially during evening hours, with the help of different highly trained contractors.
Securing $11 Billion Fund For the Largest Clean Energy Project
On Wednesday, Dec. 27, Pattern Energy Group announced the completion of funding for the 550-mile transmission line transporting electricity to Arizona and the 3.5 gigawatt SunZia wind farm in New Mexico. The financial backing agreement included approximately $8.8 billion for building and term facilities and $2.25 billion in tax shares.
Emphasizing the difficulty of constructing transmission lines in the United States, it reportedly took SunZia over 17 years to obtain approvals and undertake construction. As mentioned, local landowners, conservationists, regulatory bodies, and grid experts can all hinder or prevent transmission expansion, which is considered necessary to transport energy generated by wind and solar farms nationwide.
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Building Clean Energy Project
On Wednesday, Dec. 27, the world's largest windmill manufacturer, Vestas, announced that it had successfully obtained a definite order from Pattern Energy Group to provide 242 V163-4.5 MW turbines to SunZia Wind.
Vestas has placed its most significant order to date in the United States market, which is 1.1 gigawatts, and it is also the company's most extensive individual onshore project worldwide. Moreover, this is the largest order ever placed for Vestas' most recent high-capacity factor turbine anywhere in the world. The delivery of turbines is anticipated to start in the first quarter of 2025, with the first half of 2026 being the final commissioning date.
Accordingly, there will be over 2,000 personnel on-site throughout the construction phase of SunZia Wind and Transmission. These workers will include laborers, electricians, and heavy equipment operators. The expertise of several of the best contractors and suppliers will also be utilized as part of the project.
In addition, regarding the transmission line, Quanta Infrastructure Services Group is the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Contractor, and Hitachi Energy is the High-voltage direct current (HVDC) supplier. On the other hand, Blattner Energy, a business linked with Quanta, has been selected as the EPC contractor for the wind project, while both Vestas and GE Vernova provide the wind turbines.
In the Western Hemisphere, SunZia Wind is the biggest wind project. Thus, wind farms with a 3,500 megawatts (MW) capacity are now being constructed in Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel in New Mexico.
South-central Arizona and central New Mexico are connected by the SunZia Transmission, an HVDC transmission line that spans 550 miles and has a voltage of ± 525 kilovolts. It will have the capacity to transmit 3,000 megawatts of clean energy once it is finished being constructed.
Through SunZia Transmission, SunZia Wind will reportedly be equipped to provide electricity to clients in Arizona and California during the early evening hours, which is a time when demand is strong, yet there is a limited supply of renewable energy. Similar to the Western Spirit Transmission Line, it is going to make use of the same corridor.
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