Construction on the SunZia Power Transmission project in New Mexico has received a boost, through an investment of over US$ 8bn from Pattern Energy. Therefore, Pattern Energy has acquired partial ownership of the project and is working alongside SunZia Transmission. Both companies have also partnered with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) on this privately funded project.
The SunZia Power Transmission project covers construction on a 3,000+ MW wind facility in New Mexico and 2 transmission lines. These 500-mile transmission lines will be used in distributing wind-generated electricity from Central New Mexico to Arizona. Thereby, providing 4,500 MW of renewable energy from New Mexico to the Arizonian and Californian markets.
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The SunZia Power Transmission project will consist of a 3,000-MW DC line and a 1,500-MW AC line. The 3,000-MW DC line will be owned by Pattern upon completion. While Southwestern Power, an anchor tenant of SunZia, will build and own the 1,500-MW AC line. Based on the agreement made between Southwestern Power and SunZia in 2017, Pattern become a primary user of the second line. In order to generate wind-wind-generated electricity for various markets.
Pattern’s investment brought fresh impetus to the SunZia Power Transmission project
Pattern’s investment was massive and included purchasing building rights to one of the transmission lines for the SunZia Power Transmission project. This move pumped new life into a project, which was previously delayed for nearly 16 years due to government permitting processes. Especially since the transmission line’s route was originally intended to pass through the northern part of White Sands Missile Range. At that time, this was the cause of the long-running dispute that the U.S Department of Defense had with SunZia.
After reaching an agreement to bury segments of the line at White Sands, the SunZia Power Transmission project was finally approved. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the project in 2015. However, it was hindered yet again in 2018 because the line’s route was likely to affect wildlife in the region. In the end, the developers proposed rerouting the entire east-west segment of the line. The new route continues northward and crosses the river south of Belen, to avoid the wildlife refuges along the Rio Grande.
Timeline for the project
In 2020, BLM began amending the previous permits issued for the SunZia Power Transmission project. This process is currently still in progress. But according to Pattern’s project development director, Jeremy Turner, the company is certain BLM’s final decision will come by early 2023. They expect BLM to approve the final permitting for the new route by next spring. Turner said this would enable the company to start construction on the transmission line and wind farms by April 2023.
The SunZia Power Transmission project is expected to create over 2,000 construction jobs. Another 150 permanent jobs will also be created for system operations and maintenance roles. Depending on when the permits are finalized next year, Pattern hopes to complete the construction on the lines by 2025. While construction on the wind facility is expected to be completed by 2026.
