Tres Amigas Project
Encyclopedia
The Tres Amigas SuperStation focuses on uniting North America’s two major power grids
(the Eastern Interconnection
and the Western Interconnection
) and one minor grid (the Texas Interconnection
) to enable faster adoption of renewable energy and increase the reliability of the U.S. grid.
high-voltage direct current
power transmission lines, which permit a controlled flow of energy while also functionally isolating the independent AC frequencies of each side. The design is scalable to 30 GW.
Tres Amigas uses high-temperature superconductor (HTS)
wire.
The Tres Amigas SuperStation will act as a power market hub
, enabling the buying and selling of electricity among three of North America's largest interconnections, which is not possible today.
The Tres Amigas super station will be located on a 22 square miles (57 km²) plot of land near Clovis, New Mexico
.
Wide area synchronous grid
A wide area synchronous grid, also called an "interconnection" in North America, is a power grid at a regional scale or greater that operates at a synchronized frequency and is electrically tied together during normal system conditions...
(the Eastern Interconnection
Eastern Interconnection
The Eastern Interconnection is one of the two major alternating current power grids in North America. The other major interconnection is the Western Interconnection...
and the Western Interconnection
Western Interconnection
The Western Interconnection is one of the two major alternating current power grids in North America. The other major wide area synchronous grid is the Eastern Interconnection...
) and one minor grid (the Texas Interconnection
Texas Interconnection
The Texas Interconnection is one of the three minor alternating current power grids in North America. The other two minor interconnections are the Québec Interconnection and the Alaska Interconnection...
) to enable faster adoption of renewable energy and increase the reliability of the U.S. grid.
Overview
The Tres Amigas SuperStation will tie the grids together via three 5 GW superconductiveSuperconductivity
Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance occurring in certain materials below a characteristic temperature. It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum...
high-voltage direct current
High-voltage direct current
A high-voltage, direct current electric power transmission system uses direct current for the bulk transmission of electrical power, in contrast with the more common alternating current systems. For long-distance transmission, HVDC systems may be less expensive and suffer lower electrical losses...
power transmission lines, which permit a controlled flow of energy while also functionally isolating the independent AC frequencies of each side. The design is scalable to 30 GW.
Tres Amigas uses high-temperature superconductor (HTS)
High-temperature superconductivity
High-temperature superconductors are materials that have a superconducting transition temperature above . From 1960 to 1980, 30 K was thought to be the highest theoretically possible Tc...
wire.
The Tres Amigas SuperStation will act as a power market hub
Electricity market
In economic terms, electricity is a commodity capable of being bought, sold and traded. An electricity market is a system for effecting purchases, through bids to buy; sales, through offers to sell; and short-term trades, generally in the form of financial or obligation swaps. Bids and offers use...
, enabling the buying and selling of electricity among three of North America's largest interconnections, which is not possible today.
Location
Clovis, New Mexico
Clovis is the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 32,667 at the 2000 census; according to 2010 Census Bureau estimates, the population had risen to 37,775....
.