‘Great progress’ in cable laying ops at mega $6 billion US-Canada subsea link to power Big Apple with renewables

Denmark-headquartered power cable manufacturer and installation player NKT, alongside other players hired for work on an underwater high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable project between the U.S. and Canada, is continuing to make inroads in putting all the subsea marine infrastructure in place to transform New York (NYK) into a clean energy hub by keeping the lights on at one million homes with green electricity.

After the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) project broke ground on the transmission line in November 2022 in Whitehall, and on the Astoria converter site in September 2023 where the energy will enter the grid. The inaugural HVDC cable run was installed underground in January 2024, while the energy supply start-up is slated for 2026.

Four months ago, NKT, which won the contract for the engineering, manufacturing, and installation of the high-voltage 400 kV DC transmission line in the summer of 2022, together with DeepOcean finished prelay mattressing on the Hudson River for the CHPE project, developed by TDI, a Blackstone company, installing over 100 concrete mattresses from the HOS Bayou.

DeepOcean’s intelligent mattress frame (IMF) is said to have enabled efficient installation of the concrete mattresses with onboard technology ensuring accurate placement in near zero visibility to allow for the safe installation of the CHPE cables later during the year.

Following the arrival of the Atalanti cable laying vessel (CLV) from Karlskrona, Sweden to New York, the ship embarked on an assignment that Asso.subsea inked with NKT for the transportation, installation, and burial of the cable system along a portion of the Hudson River, as a part of the CHPE project, which is considered to be the largest clean energy project ever constructed in New York State and the largest fully-buried transmission line in North America.

This is the vessel’s first cable-laying campaign in the Hudson. While Hitachi Energy is tasked with delivering the HVDC converter station with Light technology, the site’s lead contractor is Kiewit Corporation. The CHPE project will bring 1.25 GW of clean power from Canada to NYC by mid-2026, which is anticipated to be sufficient to power over one million homes in the City that Never Sleeps. 

A month ago, Khan Peoples, Senior Project Manager, confirmed that cable installation was kicked off in Lake Champlain for the CHPE, as “a significant milestone for this monumental project!” The installation of the energy transmission cable in the river, designed to bring hydropower generated in Canada to NYC, began with the CLV Atalanti laying the cable and performing related work in the Hudson.

Caldwell Marine International‘s barges were also hard at work on Lake Champlain to bring renewable energy from Quebec to New York City, eliciting what the firm called “exciting progress” on the Champlain Hudson Power Express project.

“Spanning 339 miles from the U.S.-Canadian border to Queens, CHPE is more than just a power project; it’s a vital part of New York’s energy transformation. With minimal environmental impact and $28.6 billion in economic benefits, we’re supporting the city’s climate goals and moving closer to achieving the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) target of 70% renewable electricity by 2030,” highlighted Asso.subsea.

Based on NKT’s most recent update, the Champlain Hudson Power Express’s installation works in the Hudson River are “well underway,” as the 400 kV HVDC power cable connection has crossed the U.S.-Canadian border, marking “a major milestone in this historic project,” in providing 20% of New York City’s energy seen as enough for 1 million homes.

Peter Rose, Senior Director of Stakeholder Relations at Hydro Québec, underlined recently that the crew was “just straight up layin’ it” while confirming the HVDC cable link’s start-up timeline for the Big Apple to run on renewable energy in 2026. TDI, which is building the CHPE 339-mile (about 545.57 kilometers) energy transmission line, with 60% of its length in waterways and 40% buried underground, is expected to create over 1,400 union jobs.

The Champlain Hudson Power Express is expected to play a key role in the NYK state’s energy transformation, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, unlocking job opportunities, and generating billions of dollars in new investment in New York’s economy while delivering low-cost renewable energy to New York state.

The buried line is expected to minimize environmental and social impacts while maximizing resiliency during extreme weather events. Multibillion-dollar economic benefits are estimated to be on the horizon from the beginning of construction through the first 30 years of operation, delivering $28.6 billion to New York state, including $1.7 billion in tax revenue for local municipalities.

The CHPE project is believed to be a solution to lower electricity generation costs throughout the NYK state by $17 billion over the first 25 years of operation.