Xcel Energy and Otter Tail Power Company have completed the 113-kilometre CapX2020 Big Stone South-Brookings County 345kV transmission line in South Dakota.
The companies are joint owners of the $140m project.
The line runs between the new Big Stone South substation near Big Stone City and the existing Brookings County substation about 16km northeast of Brookings.
Xcel Energy senior vice president Teresa Mogensen said: “Today, there are no less than eight wind projects and a natural gas generation facility requesting to interconnect to this line and the new substation.”
The link is part of the 1287km CapX2020 project, which is a joint initiative of 11 transmission-owning utilities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin formed to upgrade and expand the grid.
The $2bn initiative includes four 345kV transmission lines and a 230kV link.
Image: SXC
