Dubbed the “Thumb Loop,” ITC Transmission calls its 345,000-volt line the “backbone” of a system designed to meet the identified maximum wind energy potential of the Thumb. It’s capable of supporting a maximum capacity of about 5,000 megawatts generated from 2,800 wind turbines, according to ITC.
Dubbed the “Thumb Loop,” ITC Transmission calls its 345,000-volt line the “backbone” of a system designed to meet the identified maximum wind energy potential of the Thumb. It’s capable of supporting a maximum capacity of about 5,000 megawatts generated from 2,800 wind turbines, according to ITC.
UPPER THUMB — The final phase of a 140-mile transmission line weaving through the Thumb area to carry energy from wind turbines is more than halfway finished.
Dubbed the “Thumb Loop,” ITC Transmission calls its 345,000-volt line the “backbone” of a system designed to meet the identified maximum wind energy potential of the Thumb. It’s capable of supporting a maximum capacity of about 5,000 megawatts generated from 2,800 wind turbines, according to ITC.
The third and final phase stretches 58 miles from a Rapson substation into Sanilac and St. Clair counties. It is about 55 percent complete, according to Joe Kirik, senior communications specialist at the Novi-based ITC Transmission.
“At either end of it, it’s connected in to major …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]UPPER THUMB — The final phase of a 140-mile transmission line weaving through the Thumb area to carry energy from wind turbines is more than halfway finished.
Dubbed the “Thumb Loop,” ITC Transmission calls its 345,000-volt line the “backbone” of a system designed to meet the identified maximum wind energy potential of the Thumb. It’s capable of supporting a maximum capacity of about 5,000 megawatts generated from 2,800 wind turbines, according to ITC.
The third and final phase stretches 58 miles from a Rapson substation into Sanilac and St. Clair counties. It is about 55 percent complete, according to Joe Kirik, senior communications specialist at the Novi-based ITC Transmission.
“At either end of it, it’s connected in to major substations and other lines to the entire state,” Kirik said.
Kirik said substations at either end of the Thumb Loop connect it to the Michigan high-voltage grid — a networked transmission system that covers most of the Lower Peninsula.
Scheduled for completion next year, portions in Tuscola and Huron currently carry energy from eight wind parks, Kirik said, while three wind parks planned or under construction are waiting to be hooked up.
The project consists of nearly 800 total structures — mostly monopoles that stand 150 feet or higher. They will be spaced about 1,100 feet apart, with about six structures per mile, according to ITC.
The cost of the project, which has been estimated at about $510 million, will be paid by ratepayers in the 13 states in the Midwest ISO footprint. The Midwest ISO is the power grid operator for much of the U.S. Midwest.
ITC Transmission President Gregory Ioanidis says it is the largest product in the company’s history. Construction started in 2011. “Phase 1” consists of 62 miles of double-circuit, 345,000-volt lines from the Bauer substation in Tuscola County to the Rapson substation in Huron County. It was put into service last September. At a townhall meeting in Greenwood in June, the company announced completion of the 20-mile Phase 2 section in St. Clair County.
The company says the project will bring a $366 million boost to the state’s economy and an addition of 320 jobs.
“Most of that being felt here, in St. Clair, Tuscola, Huron (and Sanilac),” Ioanidis said in June.
Ioanidis said the project has been “smooth sailing,” except for a few challenges at the start.
“We had a couple of property owners here and there, but for the most part we were able to effectively deal with everyone,” he said. “At the end of the day, construction can be disruptive. … But we try to bring back the land as best as possible to where it was when we first entered the area. We want to be a good neighbor.”