Power line would ship power south

Tonbridge Power Inc. announced Friday it has entered into an agreement with wind power developer Gaelectric North America Inc. to begin feasibility work on a major new transmission line in Montana.

Toronto-based Tonbridge already is developing the Montana Alberta Tie Line between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alberta. Gaelectric is based in Ireland but has an office in Great Falls.

With MATL successfully financed and under construction, Johan van’t Hof, Tonbridge’s chief executive officer, said Tonbridge is now working on a new 100-mile transmission line between Great Falls and the Townsend area called the “Green Line.”

If it’s built, it would relieve congestion for southbound electricity flows by, in effect, extending the MATL line south to interconnect with the Colstrip transmission line, Tonbridge said. Wind developers have purchased the southbound capacity on the MATL line.

The proposed Green Line would connect the MATL transmission line at Great Falls with Bonneville Power Administration’s 500-kilovolt Colstrip transmission line near Townsend or Garrison. The Colstrip line is the major electricity highway running east to west out of Montana enabling renewable energy and other power to reach load centers in the Pacific Northwest region.

Tonbridge would allocate at least 500 megawatts of transmission capacity to Gaelectric, which would become an anchor shipper, in return for payment of development costs. It would receive its development contributions back through contracted transmission tariff reductions in the future, the company said.

Gaelectric is active in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and North America where it operates regional development offices including in Great Falls.

See Saturday’s Tribune for additional details.

Great Falls Tribune

www.greatfallstribune.com ^[1]

6 November 2009

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[1] www.greatfallstribune.com: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20091106/NEWS01/91106011

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