Grain Belt Express Files to Bring More Power and Energy Savings to Missouri
August 2022Grain Belt Express Files to Bring More Power and Energy Savings to Missouri
Responding to Regional Market Demand and State Leaders’ Calls,
Proposed Project Changes Would Deliver More Power and Energy Savings to Missouri, Benefitting Consumers Throughout Midwest
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (Aug. 25, 2022) – Grain Belt Express, an Invenergy Transmission project, filed this week with Missouri regulators to amend its approved transmission line to deliver more of the project’s affordable and reliable power into Missouri in response to strong regional demand.
If approved, the updated project will now bring five times the amount of power into Missouri, delivering 2,500 megawatts into the state, which is roughly the equivalent of two new nuclear power plants in capacity to meet regional energy supply and reliability needs. Under the existing certificate unanimously granted by the Missouri Public Service Commission in 2019, the project is already approved to deliver 500 megawatts to Missouri.
“Since purchasing Grain Belt Express back in 2019, we’ve heard from stakeholders across Missouri that want to see more of the line’s benefits delivered into the state,” said Shashank Sane, executive vice president and head of transmission at Invenergy. “As families and businesses face rising costs and power grid operators warn about current and future regional reliability challenges, we are pleased to be seeking approvals that respond to calls for more local benefits and that will dramatically increase this state-of-the-art transmission infrastructure project’s delivery of real energy solutions to Missourians.”
The proposed project expansion and additional local delivery will mean $4.6 billion of energy and capacity cost savings over 15 years for consumers in Missouri, according to the final analysis submitted with the application by PA Consulting Group (“PA”), a leading global firm of energy and utility industry experts.
The proposed expanded energy capacity to Missouri will come via the Grain Belt Express Tiger Connector, an alternating current power line that will send power from a converter station in Monroe County to a delivery point in Callaway County where Missouri’s power grid is robust enough to handle the large injection of power. Grain Belt Express’s existing Certificate of Convenience and Necessity, approved in 2019, included anticipated alternating current interconnection facilities. The amended application filed this week includes a final proposed route for the approximately 40-mile Tiger Connector line, a map of which can be found at www.grainbeltexpress.com/tiger-connector.
To meet the increased demand for local power delivery, proposed project modifications to Grain Belt Express outlined in the filing would:
- Increase overall investment in the project to approximately $7 billion.
- Increase the overall transmission capacity of the line by 25 percent to 5,000 megawatts.
Once built, the project will provide the equivalent of roughly 4 new nuclear power plants in capacity to meet regional energy supply and reliability needs.
- Increase the delivery capacity to Missouri by fivefold, with a boost in the sizing of the line’s mid-point delivery converter station from 500 megawatts to 2,500 megawatts.
- Increase delivery capacity to MISO—maintaining the ability to deliver to 39 communities across Missouri—and establish a new Missouri interconnection, enhancing savings and reliability for consumers in rural areas, small towns and cities throughout Missouri, Illinois, and other states.
- Pursue a Phase I & II approach to the project that would enable construction to proceed sooner on Phase I, from Kansas to the Missouri interconnection point, delivering project benefits to energy consumers sooner.
About Invenergy Transmission
Invenergy Transmission is an affiliate of Invenergy. Invenergy and its affiliated companies develop, own, and operate large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation and storage facilities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Invenergy’s home office is located in Chicago, and it has regional development offices in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Japan, Poland, and Scotland.
Invenergy and its affiliated companies have successfully developed more than 30,000 megawatts of projects that are in operation, construction, or contracted, including wind, solar, transmission infrastructure and natural gas power generation and advanced energy storage projects. Learn about Invenergy at Invenergy.com.
About Grain Belt Express
Grain Belt Express is a $7 billion electric transmission infrastructure project connecting four states—Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana—across 800 miles. An Invenergy Transmission project, Grain Belt Express will carry more affordable, reliable power to millions of homes and businesses across the Midwest and other regions, delivering 100% domestic, clean electricity while powering economic opportunity and energy security.
Contact Invenergy Transmission: Dia Kuykendall, [email protected]