Wind

US judge throws out bid to halt $11bn SunZia wind power line

Plan to move power from 3.5GW wind farm had been challenged by tribal groups

Construction on the SunZia transmission and wind project in New Mexico.
Construction on the SunZia transmission and wind project in New Mexico.Foto: Pattern Energy
Acting Editor-in-Chief, Recharge

A judge has thrown out a legal bid to halt work on America’s largest ever clean energy project, the transmission line set to carry power from the 3.5GW SunZia wind farm in New Mexico.

The 885km SunZia transmission line was in January hit with a court challenge in Arizona by tribal groups that claimed developer Pattern Energy had failed to recognise “overwhelming evidence of cultural significance” on part of the route of the link.
US news outlets including ABC reported that a federal judge on Tuesday rejected the claims and refused a request to order a halt to work on the line, which is set to link the 3.5GW SunZia wind farm in New Mexico to demand centres in the US southwest and California.

The judge said the claims were filed too late, and that the developer and regulator the US Bureau of Land Management had fulfilled their obligations, it was reported.

Pattern Energy said the transmission and wind projects are together the “largest clean energy infrastructure project in US history” when it closed an $11bn finance package last year.
GE and Vestas split a record-breaking turbine order for the project, billed as the largest onshore wind farm in the western hemisphere.

Pattern Energy said when the court challenge was filed in January that the "time has passed to reconsider the route, which was approved in 2015 after a robust and comprehensive review process."

"Construction is well underway on this historic renewable energy project, designed to parallel existing infrastructure in the San Pedro Valley region to help minimize impacts, that will bring clean power to three million Americans and help the country meet its decarbonisation goals."

(Copyright)

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Published 17 April 2024, 10:01Updated 17 April 2024, 10:01
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