PPL Corporation through its subsidiary PPL TransLink Inc., and Elia Group (Elia Group SA/NV), through its subsidiary WindGrid, announced an agreement to develop and propose innovative transmission solutions to reliably and efficiently integrate future offshore wind capacity to the onshore grid in the New England region. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop, build and operate transmission assets. This will combine PPL's extensive experience in building and operating large-scale onshore transmission in the U.S. with Elia Group's proven track record in building, integrating and operating offshore transmission, including high-
voltage direct current networks. Later this month, PPL and WindGrid plan to jointly respond to a request for information issued by five New England states that are seeking input from interested stakeholders relating to the transmission system changes and upgrades that are needed to integrate future renewable energy resources into their grids. The states -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire -- recognize the importance of early planning for carrying out this offshore wind development. Recent studies, including Massachusetts' Energy Pathways to Deep Decarbonization report, which is cited in the RFI, assume that up to 30,000 megawatts of New England offshore wind capacity will be deployed by 2050.