The BRIGO series of projects installed approximately 50 miles of new transmission lines from the Buffalo Ridge area of Minnesota and South Dakota.
Kent Larson, vice president of transmission and operating services at Xcel Energy, said: “Xcel Energy delivers more wind power than any utility in the nation and it is critical that we have the capacity to move large amounts of wind energy from where it is abundant to customers throughout the region.
“The completion of these projects allows us to more efficiently harvest this area’s vital energy resources, and it will also provide more reliable electricity service to our customers.”
Currently, wind energy is almost 8% of Xcel Energy’s fuel mix in the Upper Midwest, and by 2020, it is planned that wind power will be about 19% of the company’s energy portfolio in the region.
The BRIGO series of projects include: a second 115kV transmission line connecting Fenton substation in Murray county, Minnesota, to Nobles county substation in Nobles county, Minnesota; a new 115kV line from Lake Yankton substation to Southeast Marshall substation, both located in Lyon county, Minnesota; a second 115kV line from Yankee substation in Lincoln county, Minnesota, to Brookings county substation in South Dakota; a second 345kV line connecting Brookings county and White substations in Brookings county, South Dakota; and associated transformer installations in Nobles county and Brookings county.
