Great Basin Transmission, an affiliate of LS Power, has started construction on Southwest Intertie Project-North (SWIP-North), a 285-mile, 500kV transmission line, representing a capital investment exceeding $1bn in power infrastructure.
The transmission line connects the Midpoint Substation in southern Idaho with the Robinson Summit Substation near Ely, Nevada.
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A groundbreaking ceremony took place in Ely to mark the beginning of the project.
The project aims to complete the final section of the Southwest Intertie Project, a corridor first envisioned in the 1980s.
Development of SWIP-North follows LS Power’s acquisition of development rights in 2005.
Upon completion, SWIP-North and previous segments will together form a 576-mile transmission corridor stretching from Magic Valley in Idaho to Eldorado Valley in Nevada.
SWIP-North is set to deliver more than 2GW of bi-directional power transfer capacity, including a 500MW allocation for Idaho Power customers.
This will expand regional interconnections, enabling power exchanges between the Pacific Northwest and the Desert Southwest.
The California Independent System Operator, Idaho Power and NV Energy are set to share capacity rights on the new line as part of agreements allocating development costs and transmission entitlements between the parties.
LS Power CEO Paul Segal said: “SWIP-North will complete an important new pathway between the Pacific Northwest and the Desert Southwest, improving reliability and giving the Western grid greater flexibility.
“Projects of this scale take persistence, and we are proud to have spent more than two decades advancing this corridor to construction.”
More than 70% of the SWIP-North route will be located in Nevada. The new line will connect with previous phases developed by LS Power: the 231-mile One Nevada Transmission Line, built with NV Energy and operational since 2014; and the 60-mile DesertLink segment, in service since 2020.
These lines together support increased stability and access to energy markets through links to the California ISO.
Completion of SWIP-North is anticipated in 2028.
