Central Maine Power’s $85 million Section 80 Rebuild project is nearing completion, company officials said last week.
The work involves replacing wooden structures along a 22-mile 115-kilovolt transmission line with stronger poles made of steel. It also involves the installation of new conductor wire. The work is roughly 85 percent complete.
The upgrades address outmoded structure types and the potential for thermal overloading on this section under certain conditions.
“You can think of this line like a state road as opposed to an interstate,” Adam Desrosiers, Central Maine Power’s vice president of electric operations, said. “Just as state roads compliment interstates, getting large numbers of people where they need to go, Section 80 is a major component of not just Maine’s grid, but the transmission system throughout New England. These upgrades will make this fundamental part of our region’s grid more prepared for stronger storms and the impacts of climate change for decades to come.”
The energization of the new line is expected to take place by late summer or early fall. At that time, the pre-existing lines and the wooden structures they are on will be de-energized and taken down.
The 22-mile transmission line travels between Coopers Mills Substation in Windsor through Jefferson, Washington, Waldoboro, and Warren to Highland Substation.
CMP, a subsidiary of Avangrid, operates approximately 23,500 miles of distribution lines and 2,900 miles of transmission lines. It serves approximately 646,000 customers across 346 communities in central and southern Maine.
The post Central Maine Power nears finish line for 22-mile transmission line rebuild project appeared first on Daily Energy Insider .
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