The US Department of Energy has awarded a $50m grant to Minnesota Power to modernise its high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system.
The grant will finance upgrades so the system is ready to expand to meet future clean energy needs while increasing the reliability and resilience of the regional grid.
Minnesota Power, an operating division of Allete, was selected in a competitive process from among hundreds of applicants nationwide to receive the grant for its HVDC Terminal Expansion Capability Project from the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program, part of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“Investments in transmission are critical to the reliability and resiliency of the grid as we continue to build a carbon-free energy future and advance Minnesota Power’s EnergyForward strategy,” said Bethany Owen, Allete CEO.
“This federal grant will help reduce costs to customers for upgrades to Minnesota Power’s strategically located HVDC transmission system, support federal and state energy policy goals -including Minnesota’s recently passed carbon-free by 2040 legislation – and help prepare the regional grid for the efficient transfer of more energy from a variety of generation sources.”
Minnesota Power will use the funding to prepare its HVDC system for future expansion by including certain additional design features in its current plan for replacing aging infrastructure and modernising the terminal stations of its 465-mile transmission line that runs from Center, North Dakota, to Hermantown, Minnesota.
Commissioned in 1977, the HVDC transmission system has served Minnesota Power well in its more than four decades of operation.
Minnesota Power acquired the HVDC line in 2009 to reliably deliver nearly 500MW of wind energy from its North Dakota wind sites to its customers in Minnesota.
It is only one of a handful of existing long-distance HVDC lines in the country.