Eversource's Massachusetts project complete; said to be a first
Eversource, along with representatives from BXP, community partners and state and local officials, recently broke ground on construction of the Greater Cambridge Energy Program (GCEP), something it calls a "first-of-its-kind transmission initiative to address the increased electric demand in the region, enhance the resiliency of the transmission system, and ensure a flexible grid to reliably serve customers while supporting electrification and decarbonization goals," per a January 28 press release from the company. The project includes an underground substation.
The innovative project will also enable the interconnection of more new clean energy resources to support additional electric supply and increase the grid’s capacity as electrification continues to grow and more customers adopt clean technologies like EVs and heat pumps in the coming years.
Innovatively designed to place a significant amount of needed infrastructure underground, GCEP includes Eversource's first underground substation — the largest in the country at 35,000 square feet. The substation will be located 105 feet underground beneath new public green space between Broadway and Binney Street and integrated into BXP's Life Sciences Center at the former Kendall Center Blue Garage site. As energy demand continues to increase in Cambridge and surrounding areas, the output from GCEP’s underground substation enables far-reaching electrification of heating systems in the city, providing capacity to address 100% of residential heating electrification as well as the ability to displace 50% of the commercial sector’s gas demand through electrification.