An affiliate of Pattern Energy has filed a petition for a siting certificate for the 2GW Southern Cross transmission project with the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC).
The petition includes the preferred route for the project, which will link wind energy in Texas to the south-east US.
The route would cross the Mississippi River in Issaquena County and continue eastward through Washington, Sharkey, Humphreys, Holmes, Carroll, Montgomery, Choctaw, Oktibbeha, Clay, and Monroe counties before terminating at a converter station to be built in Lowndes County.
The company said landowners on the route will receive notice by letter in the coming weeks.
The boards of supervisors in each of the respective counties have adopted resolutions of support for the project and its positive impact, Pattern added.
The project is expected to start construction in 2018 and begin delivering power in 2021.
Peak construction is expected to create more than 650 jobs, Pattern said.
MPSC is being asked to approve a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, which is also known as a siting certificate.
The commission will take several months to examine the project, the company said.
Pattern Development chief executive Mike Garland said: “The Southern Cross project is the only project to connect low-cost renewable energy in Texas to the south-east while also creating jobs and generating strong economic benefits in both the southern states and Texas.
“We are now in discussions with parties interested in buying the low-cost clean power this project will deliver.”
Image: Gulf wind farm in Texas (Pattern Energy)
Pattern files Mississippi grid plan
2GW Southern Cross project would connect wind power in Texas
By EBS