Ameren, through its wholly owned subsidiary Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois, has completed and energised the final span of the $1.4bn Illinois Rivers Project.
Illinois Rivers Project is a 375mile (603.5km), 345,000volt transmission line between Palmyra in Missouri and Sugar Creek in Indiana.
The project was approved in 2011 by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), a regional transmission organisation.
Illinois Rivers is part of a group of multi-state transmission projects, dubbed Multi-Value Projects, developed by transmission owners in the Midwest to improve and strengthen the regional energy grid and integration of renewable energy.
ATXI chairman and president Shawn Schukar said: “Our country’s future energy security and sustainability depends on a strong transmission system to enable the transition from coal to renewable energy.
“The Illinois Rivers Project is an important component to help deliver clean, affordable and reliable energy to communities across the Midwest and ensure the grid can accommodate ever-increasing renewable resources.”
Illinois Rivers project offers improved energy grid reliability
ATXI said that its Illinois Rivers project offers improved energy grid reliability, increased transmission capacity, access to lower-cost energy and electricity from renewable sources for households and businesses in Midwest.
In late December 2020, the final span of the project was placed into service, and the firm has effectively executed the project including the use of helicopters to install transmission lines, reducing impact to landowners.
Illinois Rivers marks the third Multi-Value Project completed by ATXI, following the Spoon River Project in Illinois, completed in February 2018, and the Mark Twain Transmission Project in Northeast Missouri, which went into service in December 2019.
Ameren operates a transmission system of more than 8,000 circuit miles of high-voltage transmission lines across different energy markets.
In December last year, Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren, has finalised the purchase of the 400MW High Prairie Renewable Energy Center located in Adair and Schuyler counties in northeast Missouri.
