The need for energy is expanding quickly in Texas. Development of a more robust electric grid will ensure reliable power. Cross Texas Transmission (CTT) is developing projects that improve grid reliability and increase renewable energy adoption.
“We are known for being a leader in the industry who operates efficiently and effectively and delivers low-cost, reliable systems to their customers,” Vice President of Project Development Cameron Fredkin says.
Essential Resources
CTT is a transmission service provider, carrying energy from generation to consumption. A subsidiary of LS Power, CTT operates and maintains transmission lines that deliver bulk power. Its system consists of a 235-mile, 345 kV, double circuit AC transmission line awarded by the Public Utility Commission of Texas to help deliver wind resources to millions of homes and businesses across Texas.
One focus for CTT has been its involvement in projects emanating from the Texas Panhandle, which is home to two Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) – Panhandle A and B. The CREZ project was primarily designed to move electricity generated by renewable sources from West Texas and the Panhandle to more populated areas including Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. The $6.8 billion project included more than 2,500 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and substations throughout Texas.
CTT has helped deliver those resources by constructing three high-voltage transmission line segments totaling more than 235 miles across Briscoe, Carson, Childress, Collingsworth, Gray, Hall and Wheeler counties in the Panhandle. CTT’s transmission line segments include Gray to Tesla, Gray to White Deer and Silverton to Tesla.
“The project will improve the diversity of electrical generation supply and reliability of the electrical grid while providing access to significant renewable energy projects and improving air quality,” Fredkin says.
Devising Solutions
Another endeavor, in partnership with Garland Power & Light (GP&L), is the Limestone to Gibbons Creek project. In mid-2013, CTT and GP&L – the municipal utility for the city of Garland – saw that they could provide a solution for load growth and generation retirement issues in and around Houston, one of the largest load centers in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system.
CTT and GP&L selected PWR Solutions – now DNV GL – to identify and test transmission system alternatives that would mitigate Houston’s future reliability concerns. DNV GL’s potential solutions included a 120-mile, 345kV double-circuit line from Limestone to Gibbons Creek to Zenith, which ERCOT selected.
CTT will continue to help provide reliable energy and increase renewable resources in Texas. Ongoing growth in Texas should provide CTT with opportunities in the future.
“Among the challenges facing the industry is reliably integrating large amounts of renewable energy into the existing electrical grid,” Fredkin says. “We are working to deploy technologies to address complex operational challenges in the marketplace.”
