Grain Belt Express, Which Will Transport Clean Energy to Missouri, Wins Final Approval

For years, Invenergy has been working through regulatory approvals and acquiring land easements to build the 800-mile high-voltage transmission line, which will carry renewable energy from wind-swept western Kansas across Missouri. The transmission line is expected to have the capacity of roughly four new nuclear power plants.

State regulators gave final approval Thursday to the owners of the Grain Belt Express transmission line to drop off thousands of megawatts of clean power in Missouri.

The decision by the Missouri Public Service Commission was the final regulatory approval Chicago-based Invenergy needed to begin the first phase of the line, to be built in Kansas and Missouri.

For years, Invenergy has been working through regulatory approvals and acquiring land easements to build the 800-mile high-voltage transmission line, which will carry renewable energy from wind-swept western Kansas across Missouri and Illinois to the Indiana border.

“Securing the necessary state regulatory approvals is another critical step toward Grain Belt Express bringing lower electric bills and greater reliability to consumers in Missouri and across the Midwest,” said Shashank Sane, executive vice president and head of transmission at Invenergy.

Grain Belt was previously envisioned as a 4,000 megawatt line that would drop off a small portion of its power in Missouri. But with Thursday’s approval, Invenergy can construct a 5,000 megawatt line and drop half of its power in the state.

The line’s total capacity is expected to equate to roughly four new nuclear power plants, Invenergy says.

The company plans to construct the line in phases with Kansas and Missouri first. The line, Invenergy says, will result in $11 billion in savings over 15 years across those two states as well as Illinois.

But the Grain Belt had to overcome strong political headwinds to reach this point. The project sparked opposition from farm groups and landowners because it will cut across private property.

Source: kcur.org

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