Bechtel completes major power transmission project

Bechtel ATCO HVDC Transmission strengthens Alberta's power grid with a 500-kV Eastern Alberta Transmission Line, leveraging sustainable construction, environmental compliance, app land-access controls, and logistics expertise to protect wetlands and native grasslands while boosting reliability.

Frederick, Maryland — Bechtel recently announced the company has completed the Hanna Region Transmission Development HRTD project on schedule and under budget. The project to expand and upgrade ATCO Electric’s electrical transmission system and infrastructure in Alberta included stringing 219 miles 353 kilometers of 240 kilovolt kV and 144 kV transmission lines, constructing more than 1,200 new transmission towers, and building six new substations and upgrading twelve substations.

“The construction of the HRTD project has helped us meet the increased demand for electricity in the Hanna region due to industrial growth in the area,” said Sett Policicchio, President, ATCO Electric Transmission Division. “We were pleased to work with a team that could skillfully manage construction in environmentally sensitive areas and cope with our diverse weather conditions.”

About 60 per cent of the area where the Alberta transmission line was built passed through protected pasture, native grasses, and wetlands that are also popular wildlife breeding grounds. To minimize the impact, the project team used a mobile app to ensure that the field team had customized information about accessing land parcels and environmental regulations.

“The complexity of this project was in the logistics of constructing a variety of transmission-line segments over a vast geographic area, with varying site conditions,” said Toby Seay, president of Bechtel’s transmission business line. “Despite working miles apart, the Bechtel and ATCO Electric team worked in unison to develop innovative and sustainable solutions that ensured the safe delivery of the approved Alberta transmission line with minimal environmental impact.”

The company is now supporting ATCO Electric’s Eastern Alberta Transmission Line project. Bechtel will construct approximately 300 miles (485 kilometers) of 500-kV high voltage direct current transmission line as part of a competitive transmission project that runs from the Gibbons-Redwater area northeast of Edmonton to the Brooks area southeast of Calgary.

Bechtel is a global leader in the design and execution of complex power projects and has been at the forefront of the power industry for more than 60 years. The company has successfully delivered dozens of power transmission projects in more than 20 countries.

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