The Hudson Project will include the following components:
Connection to PJM Grid: The Project will be connected to the PJM grid at the PSE&G Bergen Substation in Ridgefield, New Jersey by means of a new 230 kV AC circuit.
Back-to-Back AC-DC-AC Converter Station: A back-to-back AC-DC-AC converter station will be constructed at 1 Railroad Avenue in Ridgefield, New Jersey.
Upland Cable (New Jersey): From the converter station, a new 345 kV circuit will be installed underground. The upland power line in New Jersey will traverse approximately 3.0 miles of upland to the Hudson River landfall in Edgewater, New Jersey.
New Jersey Cable Landfall: In Edgewater, the power line will enter the Hudson River at the southwestern corner of the Edgewater Commons Shopping Center parking lot. Prior to entering the Hudson River, the Upland Cable will transition to Submarine Cable in an underground Transition Vault to be constructed within the parking lot.
Submarine Cable: In the Hudson River, Submarine SCFF Cable will be installed. The submarine cable will extend approximately four miles south to the New York City Landfall. The Submarine Cable System will be buried below the present river bottom a minimum of 10 feet in areas outside the limits of Federal Navigation Channels and a minimum of 15 feet below present river bottom within the limits of Federal Navigation Channels.
New York City Cable Landfall: In Manhattan, the cable will exit the Hudson River between NYCEDC Piers 92 and 94. The Submarine Cable will transition to Upland Cable in an underground Transition Vault to be constructed in W 52nd Street, east of 12th Avenue.
Upland Cable (New York City): From the transition vault, the cable system will be installed underground using City streets for approximately 0.5 miles to the Con Edison W 49th Street Substation.
In addition, the Project will require extensive upgrades and reinforcements to the existing transmission system in New Jersey as a condition of interconnection. These upgrades, valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, will be of long-term benefit to system reliability in New Jersey; however, their cost will not be borne by New Jersey ratepayers.
Ridgefield, NJ Converter Station and Cable Route
The Hudson Project converter station will be located at 1 Railroad Avenue, currently occupied by a warehouse. The station will convert Alternating Current (AC) power from the PJM system to Direct Current (DC), and then back to AC within the same site (called “back-to-back conversion”). The AC-DC-AC conversion means that up to 660 MW of power can be controlled very precisely and reliably to serve NYPA’s New York City customers.
The converter station will not generate power, burn fuel or produce atmospheric emissions or hazardous levels of electro-magnetic fields. 
Hudson River Landfall, New Jersey
The 345-kilovolt cable will originate at the converter station and be buried along a route that uses streets or railroad rights-of-way. From the station, it will proceed to the intersection of the existing CSX and NYS&W railroads, and then for about a mile through the NYS&W tunnel. After exiting the tunnel, it will be buried underneath New River Road in Edgewater and along the southern boundary of the Edgewater Mall shopping center before entering the Hudson River. Cable installation will produce short-term, temporary, and localized construction impacts, but no impacts once installed and operating.
Hudson River Cable Route
After entering the Hudson River in Edgewater, the cable will be buried a minimum of 10 feet below the bottom of the Hudson River. It will cross an existing federal navigation channel roughly parallel to W. 110th Street in Manhattan, then proceed southward down the river for about three miles before turning toward Manhattan. The landfall point will be between Piers 92 and 94; this location was chosen to avoid interference with ship traffic.
The cable will be installed using “jet plow” technology. A specially designed device with an adjustable blade, or plow, rests on the river bottom and is towed by a surface vessel. The plow creates a narrow trench at the designated depth, while water jets fluidize the sediment within the trench. The cable is fed through the plow and is laid into the trench as it moves forward. The fluidized sediments then settle back down into the trench and bury the cable.
Jet plow technology has been shown to minimize impacts to marine habitat and excessive dispersion of bottom sediments. Its most recent application in the New York area was for the Neptune RTS project, in which more than 50 miles of cable was installed using a jet plow.
New York City Cable Route
From the landfall point near the head of Pier 92, the cable will be pulled underneath West Side Highway (12th Avenue) to a temporary pit on W. 52nd Street. From there it will proceed underground back to the West Side Highway, and then south under the eastern sidewalk to an entrance point at the ConEd W. 49th Street substation.
New Jersey System Benefits
The Hudson Project will comply with PJM requirements that assure no reduction in the amount of power available for northern New Jersey. In meeting these requirements, the Project will materially strengthen the power grid that serves New Jersey’s electricity consumers, and is fully compatible with efforts to diversify energy supplies, including renewable energy.
Since the Project will receive energy from the PJM regional electric grid that encompasses 13 states, including New Jersey, it will account for only 0.004 percent of the approximately 150,000 MW of generation located throughout the PJM system.
System upgrades are reinforcements and improvements to the existing electric transmission system that promote reliability by facilitating the increased flow of power to meet demand and improving the stability of the grid during system emergencies. Examples include:
- repositioning and/or upgrading the conductors and cables of existing power lines;
- replacing or adding to existing equipment at local electric substations (switches, circuit breakers, transformers, etc.);
- adding strategically-placed new devices that will improve the electric system performance during disturbances to the grid.
Some system upgrades related to Hudson also include independently identified reliability projects that will be implemented on an earlier schedule due to the addition of the Project into the grid.
These system upgrades have been identified through a collaborative PJM study and engineering process, supported by the local New Jersey utilities, to strengthen the MidAtlantic power grid and enable reliable power transfer by the Hudson project to New York. In simplified terms, since Hudson will draw upon power sources throughout the PJM system, the Hudson upgrades will help allow power to flow into the Mid-Atlantic region from as far away as the Midwest – including, potentially, the thousands of megawatts of wind energy being developed in states to the west.
Since the cumulative sources of power that will flow through the Hudson cable comes under the jurisdiction of PJM, system upgrades and their costs are mandatory and are an integral part of the Hudson project “package.” The actual work of implementing the upgrades will be performed by the transmission-owning electric utilities in whose territories the work will take place.
The upgrades will reduce transmission constraints and improve power flow in New Jersey, especially during the critical peak demand periods. While the package of upgrades is a result of Hudson’s presence in the system, many of the individual work items would be necessary even without Hudson simply because parts of the system are approaching their limits due to steadily increasing demand.
The ultimate result of these upgrades will be increased reliability – a reinforced transmission system that is better able to withstand periods of peak demand and system disturbances. A strengthened system also produces a wider range of choices in meeting future energy needs because a more robust transmission system will already exist to support them. As an example, reinforcing the system to facilitate power flow means improved access to renewable energy sources such as Pennsylvania wind power, especially since most of the upgrades will be in westward locations of the PJM grid. Nearly 2000 MW of wind power is operating or under construction in PJM states, with another 20,000 MWs of wind power potential. Depending on state policy, the upgrades occasioned by the Project can help facilitate access to these resources which otherwise could not be locally realized in densely developed northern New Jersey.
Also, from the standpoint of electrical system reliability, the Project will have two-way power transfer capability, meaning that in an emergency such as a blackout in northern New Jersey, it could provide valuable assistance in restoring the local transmission grid. In addition, as an HVDC system, the Project has certain electrical characteristics that can be used to maintain the stability of its interconnecting utility (PSE&G).
