Pilgrim site eyed for $100M energy substation

    When Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station shuts down permanently in mid-2019, it may not be long before another energy producer — one with the ability to transmit considerably more clean power to the region each year — takes its place on the same site.

    Although the plant owner and the green project proponent remained tight-lipped Wednesday, a top Plymouth official confirmed the plant property has been brought up as a target site.

    Representatives from Green Line Devco LLC, a collaborative of Anbaric Transmission and National Grid, told town officials Tuesday they were looking to build a $100 million transmission substation in Plymouth to convert the electricity source for that part of the region’s grid to onshore wind and hydropower generated in Maine and Canada.

    The $1.5 billion proposal calls for a 220-mile sub-Atlantic transmission line to convey 1,200 megawatts of electricity from Maine to the Plymouth coast — enough to power 1 million homes. Pilgrim generates about 680 megawatts that can power about 600,000 homes.

    Construction is expected to start in 2019 or 2020 and wrap up in 2022.

    ISO New England, which oversees the region's electric power system, is looking at the project to determine if its connection to the regional transmission system would have any adverse effects.

    The substation would sit on about 30 acres, which provide room for visual and sound buffers.

    Based on the availability of the necessary infrastructure on the Pilgrim site, located on about a mile of coastline in South Plymouth, it is likely the target location.

    Entergy, Pilgrim’s owner-operator, was not willing to say whether such a plan was on the table, issuing a statement Wednesday that “it’s too early to discuss the future of the property.”

    Christopher Greeley, senior vice president of Northwind Strategies, a Boston public relations firm working with Green Line Devco, also had no comment on whether there had been discussions with Entergy.

    But Plymouth Town Manager Melissa Arrighi said project planners had mentioned the Plymouth power plant property during discussion. “They’ve led us to believe they’d like it to be on the Entergy property, and if not there, they’re looking at Jordan Road,” Arrighi said. Entergy also owns land in that area.

    Greeley did say project planners had been looking at locations with existing infrastructure to transmit the power. Before Plymouth, the company had evaluated interconnection points in Salem, Lynn Harbor and Boston Harbor.

    Representatives from Green Line Devco and Northwind Strategies presented the project to the Plymouth selectmen for the first time Tuesday. Board Chairman Kenneth Tavares did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

    Kevin O’Reilly, executive director of the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce, met with company representatives recently. “I discussed it with the board (of directors) and they seem cautiously optimistic,” O’Reilly said. “People understand it’s a large project with a lot of permitting, but I think the board believes it’s a good fit for the town.”

    Arrighi said taxes on the substation would bring in a minimum of about $1 million annually, which is a plus. “The positives are the small footprint, long lifespan, and I don’t think there’s a lot of depreciation,” Arrighi said. “Things we’ll want to think about are safety, noise, the environment, and the fact it doesn’t bring a lot of jobs.”

    Entergy pays the town an annual host fee of $9.5 million for Pilgrim's operation.

    Christopher Powicki, president of Water Energy Ecology Information & Design Services in Brewster, said the sub-sea cable was a good way to transport the electricity.

    “Hydro offers value to the grid from a balancing/dispatchability perspective, and the Green Line would also open up access to land-based wind in northern Maine,” Powicki said in an email.

    He raised concern over hydroelectricity production frequently voiced by other environmentalists. The process involves damming rivers, which can result in flooding and destruction of habitat. “Hydro's near-term greenhouse implications, due to methane releases via decomposition of drowned organic matter, must also be accounted for as transmission proposals like the Green Line are evaluated,” Powicki said.

    Josh Craft, program director of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, said the blend of wind from Maine bolstered by some hydropower from Canada “is the best use of ratepayer money and the best way to reach green energy goals.”

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