West Point
West Point Transmission is in the development phase, with detailed routing, permitting and technical aspects under careful evaluation. The project includes two similar and complementary routes, following the Hudson River and tying into existing transmission facilities near Indian Point. The transmission cables will be installed underneath the Hudson River itself to the greatest extent possible, but will bypass areas in the river that are uniquely valuable or sensitive environmentally. Land-based portions of the cable route will be buried underground. Route distances are between approximately 80 and 100 miles.
Final determination of the West Point route and transmission capacity will be based on the most beneficial combination of factors, including cost, technical feasibility, avoidance of environmental impacts, and availability of cost-competitive upstate generation.
The project will use efficient High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology, taking advantage of the ability of HVDC to precisely control power flows. Converter stations will be built near the interconnection points at both ends of the line; these stations will convert Alternating Current (AC) power into DC power, and vice versa.
West Point will be similar to the Neptune Regional Transmission System project, completed in 2007 by members of the West Point development team. Neptune interconnects Long Island, New York, with the PJM regional power system in New Jersey. The Neptune cable was likewise buried underwater and underground, and featured two converter stations at either end of the 65-mile-long route.
