Electric Transmission

Due Diligence & Technical Services

As illustrated in the representative electric transmission engagements described below, our team has extensive electric transmission experience encompassing the entire project life cycle of new and existing transmission lines. In cases such as the Sharyland CREZ transmission project, E3 served as the Independent Engineer from the Project’s beginning, providing pre-financing, financing, construction, and performance testing services. In other cases, E3 is hired to help lenders and developers understand their options when projects run into problems. For example, when the Hudson Transmission Partners project experienced submarine failures, they hired E3 to analyze the root causes of the cable failures and to opine on the replacement plans.

We’ve served as the technical advisor on more than 2,000 miles of new build transmission projects ranging from less than one mile to more than 350 miles. Our experience includes elevated, buried, submerged lines, voltage ratings below and above 500kV, and AC/DC transmission and conversion.

Representative Projects


Wetlands

Sharyland CREZ Transmission Project, Texas

E3 provided Independent Engineering services to the lenders for the Sharyland Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) Transmission Project. The Public Utility Commission of Texas designated Sharyland Utilities to construct the new lines and substations as part of its award for the CREZ projects.  Sharyland CREZ Project is comprised of five 345kV transmission line segments and four substations located in the Panhandle region of Texas as part of a statewide effort to allow the development of large-scale wind generation and provide transport of the output to the large load centers of the State. The Project’s transmission facilities earn a regulated rate of return under PUCT tariff provisions.  The five transmission line segments total 428 circuit miles over 295 miles of ROW.  E3 also provided construction monitoring of the transmission facilities on behalf of project lenders.


Water-plow

Hudson Transmission Partners Project, New Jersey-New York

The Hudson Transmission Partners transmission facility is a 345kV High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) transmission system that extends from Ridgefield, New Jersey to New York City. The Project includes a High Voltage Direct Current converter station in Ridgefield and approximately seven miles of cable buried on land and beneath the Hudson River. The Project experienced several submarine cable failures leading to a request from project lenders for E3 to review the suspected root cause of the cable failures and the borrower’s plans to replace the defective cables.


Chile

Transmisora Electrica del Norte (TEN) Project, Chile

E3 served as the Independent Engineer for the Transmisora Electrica del Norte (TEN), a 600-km-long 500 kV transmission line that connected Chile’s two main transmission systems, Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC) and Sistema Interconectado del Norte Grande (SING).  The transmission project will be responsible for the supply of energy to more than 97% of the national population, with an installed capacity of approximately 24,000 MW and a demand of 11,000 MW. The E3 team worked with lead banker, IPEX-Bank, along with nine local and international banks, and a U.S. insurance company, on the financing which provided the total debt capital for the equivalent of U.S. $854 million.  E3 also provided the construction monitoring for the Project.