IVOR—Dominion Virginia Power plans to begin clearing land in Southampton County for new power lines aearly next year and hopes to have the entire project completed 18 months after that.

DVP plans to build a 500-kilovolt transmission line between substations in Carson and Suffolk, a distance of about 60 miles. The company also plans to build a 230-kilovolt line from Suffolk to the Thrasher substation in Chesapeake, 21.5 miles away.

“We began clearing activities in July at the beginning of the corridor in Dinwiddie County,” DVP spokesman Chuck Penn said Tuesday. “It will probably be the first of the year or February before clearing begins in Southampton County, and it will take four to six months to finish clearing in both Southampton and Isle of Wight counties.”

In Southampton and Isle of Wight, the proposed route will mostly parallel the right-of-way of an existing 115-kilovolt line, but will deviate in several places — especially around Ivor — to avoid homes and intersections.

The width of the right-of-way for the new 500-kilovolt line will range from 100 to 150 feet. The 230-kilovolt line from Suffolk to Chesapeake will be constructed along existing right-of-way.

Penn said construction for the foundations of the transmission towers will begin in Dinwiddie County in January, and added that “as clearing continues, it may be possible that we have several crews working on foundations along the line. (This will) make it more difficult to estimate when foundation construction starts in either Southampton or Isle of Wight counties, but the line needs to energized before the summer of 2011.”

DVP says the 82-mile-long project is necessary in order to meet the future power demands of South Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks of North Carolina.