Labrador-Newfoundland Power Link Now 70% Complete

March 24, 2017

Right-of-way work in Labrador for Nalcor Energy’s Lower Churchill Project is now completed, allowing tower erection and conductor stringing to ramp up. The project will bring for the first time hydropower generated in Labrador to Newfoundland.

So far, the project’s 1,282 towers in Labrador have been erected, with 65% of conductor stringing already complete. In Newfoundland, work is progressing with 30% of tower erection complete and stringing operations ramping up.

The two-phase Lower Churchill Project is developing the remaining 35% of the Churchill River that has not already been developed by the Churchill Falls Generating Station. Phase one is Muskrat Falls; phase two, Gull Island.

The hydroelectric potential of the two phases make the lower Churchill River in Labrador the best undeveloped hydroelectric source in North America. Together, they have a combined capacity of more than 3,000 megawatts, will be able to provide 16.7 terawatt hours of electricity a year, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 3.2 million vehicles off the road each year.

The Muskrat Falls project includes an 824 megawatt hydroelectric generating facility at the falls, the Labrador-Island Link, which will transmit power to Soldiers Pond on the Avalon Peninsula, and the Maritime Link connecting Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, which is being constructed by Emera Inc. of Nova Scotia.

The Gull Island phase will involve building a 2,250 MW Gull Island generation facility, and associated transmission to markets. This phase is expected to follow no earlier than three years after the sanction of Muskrat Falls.

Photo source: Nalcor Energy.