Hitachi Energy announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Pattern Energy to support its high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technologies for the SunZia Transmission Project.
The long-term agreement will provide service solutions for the SunZia Transmission HVDC link, which is currently under construction and owned by Pattern Energy. Hitachi Energy’s HVDC Light technology will transfer and integrate wind power over more than 550 miles into the regional power grid.
Once complete, the link will connect the 3,515-MW SunZia Wind project in New Mexico to Arizona and Western states, and the HVDC link will transmit up to 3,000 MW of this power west to Arizona. The HVDC Light system will be the largest voltage source converter (VSC) installation in the United States, one of the largest worldwide, and one of the country’s longest HVDC connections.
“The SunZia transmission and Wind projects provide a roadmap to accelerate the transition to renewable energy,” said Paul Haberlein, VP of Operational Excellence at Pattern Energy. “SunZia will play a vital role in delivering clean and sustainable energy to Western states. Patten selected Hitachi Energy, a global technology leader, as our partner to engineer, manufacture, and maintain the HVDC converter stations after they enter operation.”
Service for an HVDC system includes scheduled maintenance, cyber services, on-site engineering support and life cycle assessment of the HVDC Light stations.
After more than 17 years of navigating permits and approvals, Pattern Energy Group recently closed $11 billion in non-recourse financing and started full construction of SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind. The tandem is being billed by the company as the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history.
Construction began on the project in late 2023, after the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, issued its Notice to Proceed. However, work came to a halt in southwestern Arizona last November, as Native American tribes argued the federal government ignored concerns about how the transmission line may impact religious and cultural sites.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.
