Eversource Begins Upgrades to Cape Cod’s Electric System

May 22, 2023

HYANNIS – The Cape Cod Solution, an energy infrastructure project, will break ground in the coming months as Eversource looks to strengthen the electric grid and allow for the interconnection of offshore wind farms.

Eversource said a more resilient electric system will help combat the area’s challenging weather and increasingly severe storms.

At a recent meeting Dan Wolf, Board of Director Chair for the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative, spoke about the possible changes and what that can mean for the region.

“When the wind is blowing more than six or eight knots, and our 28 megawatts are onboarding here on the Cape, we will be a net exporter. Every electron used on Cape Cod will be produced by renewable energy,” Wolf said.

With the new transmission project, both Cape Codders and citizens of surrounding New England states, will receive clean, renewable wind energy from the largest future offshore wind energy generation project to-date in the New England region.

“We’re going to build the whole grid on Cape Cod, so that we can make ourselves proud around the country and world, that we are an exporter of renewable clean energy. It starts with the grid and it starts with Avangrid and the other producers of renewable offshore,” said Wolf.

The project includes an approximately 12.5-mile transmission line that is designed with future electric needs in mind.

Initially the line will operate at 115 kilovolt (KV) with the ability to increase capacity to 345 KV for clean energy interconnection as offshore wind farms come online.

The multi-phase approach is more cost-effective and eliminates the need to build a second transmission line.