Hydropower Trips Up Trump’s Fossil Fuel Fantasy

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Oh the irony, it burns. To the shock and surprise of nobody, US President Donald Trump’s crusade on behalf of coal power has already collapsed in ignominious failure while wind and solar — especially solar — continue to surpass natural gas in new capacity additions. To ice the decarbonization cake, hydropower from Canada is also in the mix, with the latest development being a new cross-border high voltage transmission line that suddenly accounts for up to 20% of electricity consumption in the New York City metro area all by itself.

New York City Thumbs Hydropower Nose At Trump

That 20% figure is not a comparison point. The New York City metro area actually did just knock up to 20% off the carbon footprint of its electricity demand with a new 1.25 gigawatt HVDC transmission line called the Champlain Hudson Power Express. The new line connects ratepayers with in downstate New York with hydropower resources in Quebec through the Astoria Energy Complex in the Queens borough of New York City. The project comes under the wing of Transmission Developers, Inc. in partnership with Hydro-Québec.

According to project partner Hitachi Energy, the addition of hydropower will reduce carbon emissions by 3.9 million metric tons per year, equal to the output of 44% of cars in New York City.

The project initially began to take shape around 2011, though construction did not start until 2022. Updates sailed largely under the media radar until recent weeks, when word began to dribble out that commercial operation was in sight. Finally, on June 16 New York Governor Kathy Hochul officially announced that the switch has been flipped.

“With its completion, we are powering 1 million New York City homes with needed clean energy that will serve communities for generations to come,” Governor Hochul said.

“This project is further proof that despite the unprecedented federal headwinds we are facing, New York will remain a national climate and clean energy leader into the future,” Hochul added.

If Hochul appeared to be taking a victory lap over Trump, she was. The President has persistently interfered with New York State’s clean energy transition, including a failed attempt to halt the construction of the Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind offshore wind farms last year.

This year, Trump used taxpayer dollars to encourage the French firm TotalEnergies to walk away from a lease it holds on another offshore wind site in New York waters. On June 2, Hochul announced that New York and six other East Coast states are suing the Trump administration over the loss of clean energy resources and jobs, from the TotalEnergies payoff.

Hydropower Up, Gas Down

Coal power is already irrelevant in New York, where no such facilities are currently in operation. Natural gas still has a footprint, but NYSERDA (the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), points out that the new transmission line will help push gas power plants into the dustbin of history, too.

“CHPE is a critical component of New York’s diverse mix of resources and supply infrastructure which supports its State Energy Plan by delivering clean, firm hydropower and renewable energy into a high-demand region, helping relieve congestion, improve system flexibility, and reduce reliance on more expensive gas-powered generation,” the agency states.

The new Champlain Hudson Power Express does not make up for the loss of wind resources, but it also serves as reminder that clean energy is more economical than fossil fuels and it is good for business, too. According to the NYSERDA, the project will pump more than $3.4 billion in economic investments into the region over the 25-year term of the contract with Transmission Development.

“Additionally, CHPE’s Green Economy Fund, a $40 million fund, has already awarded $2 million to organizations focused on disadvantaged communities, workforce development and job retraining, intended to facilitate entry into the clean energy economy,” NYSERDA notes.

The new transmission line also provides a showcase for new, more resilient energy solutions. As NYSERDA points out, CHPE is the longest underground transmission line in North America, buffering it from surface disruptions while  reducing if not eliminating the impact of new infrastructure on host communities.

Hitachi Energy Would Like A Word

The new transmission line is also noteworthy because it showcases Hitachi Energy’s proprietary HVDC Light® technology.

“HVDC Light is engineered with a highly compact footprint, enabling converter stations and associated infrastructure to be placed directly within dense urban environments, helping to alleviate grid congestion and delivering reliable, clean power where it is needed most,” the firm explains, with HVDC being short for High Voltage Direct Current.

Additionally, Hitachi draws attention to New York’s position in the vanguard of urban HVDC technology. “The commissioning of CHPE also marks an important technological milestone: it is the second major commissioned HVDC city-center infeed project in the world to operate at ±400 kV,” the company explains. The company’s first such project in that class was recently commissioned in Mumbai.

The Astoria site is also noteworthy as a repurposing of former fossil energy sites. The site once hosted an outdated power plant running on fuel oil and residual natural gas, which was finally shuttered in 2010. “By transforming a former fossil fuel site in Astoria—long associated with air pollution and respiratory health challenges—this project will help improve local air quality while enhancing New York’s energy infrastructure and ensuring reliable power supply,” emphasizes Hitachi’s Grid Integration Business Unit CEO Niklas Persson.

More Hydropower For The USA

As for why President Trump did not try to monkey-wrench the project, that’s a good question. After all, he has gone to extraordinary lengths to cut other clean energy projects off at the knees, with the domestic wind industry taking the brunt of the effort.

However, for reasons best known only to himself, Trump has embraced practically every other form or renewable energy aside from wind and solar, including geothermal and biomass as well as hydropower. Earlier this year, for example, the US Department of Energy issued a new report describing how  battery energy storage systems could help hydropower facilities operate more economically and deliver electricity more efficiently. The report is significant because it demonstrates considerable savings with existing, short duration BESS technology.

For that matter, CHPE is not the only cross-border hydropower transmission project to help accelerate the energy transition among East Coast states. In January, the 1.2-gigawatt Clean Energy Connect transmission line cranked up operations, billing itself as the largest renewable energy project in New England.

Image: Hitachi Energy’s new HVDC Light® technology is at work behind the scenes of a massive new hydropower transmission line connecting New York City to Canada (screenshot, courtesy of Hitachi Energy via YouTube).