SNC-Lavalin will be the primary contractor for a project to transmit hydro-Quebec electricity to New York.

The Hydro-Quebec electric transmission line, which will carry 10.4 terawatt hours from New York to Quebec facilities for 25 years, will be SNC-Lavalin’s primary contractor for the U.S. portion of the Sampline Hudson Power Express project.

The Montreal-based engineering firm will oversee the technical supervision and integration of the design of cables to conduct hydroelectricity at high voltage direct current (HVDC) and converter. The value of the contract was not disclosed.

The Sampline Hudson Power Express project has about 545 km of underground transmission line, of which more than half will be installed underwater. Ultimately, it will provide 10.4 terawatt-hour electricity for 25 years, or almost 20% of the U.S. metropolitan electricity needs.

The transmission line will start at the Hertel station on the south coast of Montreal, cross the United States under Lake Champlain and then travel south, connecting to a converter station in Astoria, Queens, New York. The deal will bring the state-owned company $ 30 billion in revenue.

In mid-April, Hydro-Quebec received a green light from New York Public Utilities Commission officials to implement the project in the United States. Transmission Developers, the US partner of a state-owned company, is the final step south of the border to begin construction of the track in the summer of 2022.

Oversees Hydro-Quebec work, extending more than 58 kilometers from the Hertel substation in La Prairie to the U.S. border, to an area within Quebec. The state-owned company is awaiting approval from the governments of Quebec and Canada and hopes to start work on this side of the border by spring 2023.

SNC-Lavalin specializes in designing high voltage direct current (HVDC) technologies that are preferred for long distance transport, used in submarine and underground cables.

Dale Clark, Chief Engineering Officer, SNC-Lavalin, Canada, said in a statement that “the project will be implemented directly through the HVDC Center of Excellence in Montreal, Canada.”

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