K. Xu and A.H.M. Sadrul Ula (USA)
Northeast Blackout, Energy Transfer by HVDC Transmission
The abundance of fossil resources in the Mountain states can help to relieve the electric power shortages in the northeast US, who suffered the largest blackout in the North American history on August 14, 2003. Lack of local generating capacities in these states can be partly attributed to the lack of local energy resources. Following the peak in the 1970s, capacity additions during the period of 1980 to 2000 were very low in three major northeastern states, New York, Michigan and Ohio. Recent power shortages stimulated the rush for building new natural gas plants. The power crisis in this area can only be eased by importing either fossil fuels or electricity. The Mountain states produce most of the low sulfur coal in the US. Environmental concerns encourage the use of coal from this area, resulting in an increased production expected to last through at least 2025. In this study, two HVDC lines are proposed to export electricity from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming to the Northeast. Economic analysis is also presented, which shows very promising results. The proposed HVDC lines are highly reliable.
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