The Transmission Infrastructure Program (TIP) leverages WAPA's statutory borrowing authority to make strategic loans to projects and often works with eligible Project Applicants to provide development assistance via Advance Funding Agreements (after the project proposal and business plan are submitted and is found to be eligible). All costs incurred and performed by WAPA are paid for by the Project Applicant.
PROJECTS
Electrical District No. 5 - Palo Verde Hub (ED5-PVH): Placed into service in 2015, this 109-mile transmission project added up to 410 MW of bidirectional capacity to the grid in solar-rich Arizona and includes 254 MW connecting to the vital Palo Verde market hub that serves consumers in Arizona, Southern California, and Nevada. The project is in active repayment status.
Montana Alberta Tie Ltd (MATL) : Energized in 2013, the MATL transmission project was developed to deliver wind energy from Montana to serve interconnected markets. The 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission project received a $162 million construction loan from TIP, which was repaid in full.
Southline: This proposed project would build a new 240-mile, 345-kV double-circuit transmission line between the existing substations in New Mexico and Arizona, and upgrade about 120 miles of WAPA's existing transmission lines from 115 kV to 230 kV, adding about 1,000 MW of capacity. This project is in the development phase.
SunZia Southwest Transmission Project : The planned SunZia Southwest Transmission Project will consist of approximately 515 miles of two single-circuit 500 kV transmission lines. SunZia is designed to connect and deliver up to 3,000 MW of electricity generated in Arizona and New Mexico to population centers in the Desert Southwest. This project is in the development phase.
Ten West Link : The Ten West Link project is a 114-mile, 500-kV overhead transmission connection that will add 3,500 MW of capacity between Delaney substation in Tonopah, Arizona, and Colorado River substation outside Blythe, California. The proposed project will provide critical transmission infrastructure to efficiently share generation resources between the two states, promote renewable energy development and improve the efficiency of the bulk transmission network.
TransWest Express: Consisting of an overhead transmission line extending approximately 725 miles from south-central Wyoming crossing Colorado and Utah, this proposed project would transmit about 3,000 MW of electricity annually, generated primarily from wind resources at planned facilities in Wyoming. This project is in the development phase.
Westlands : Westlands Transmission project is a part of the master planned Westlands Solar Park, a clean energy park. The Westlands Solar park is developing utility scale solar, energy storage and other infrastructure in western Kings and Fresno Counties to help the state of California meet its renewable energy and greenhouse reduction goals before 2030. Westlands Transmission project will help permit delivery of power from these facilities to customers in California and the western US.
