St. John's, N.L. — Big changes were made Tuesday in Newfoundland’s electricity grid and in the way energy is delivered to people on the island.
Nalcor and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (Hydro), along with Emera and Nova Scotia Power, have been working to get electricity from Emera’s new Maritime Link transmission line in Nova Scotia, connecting Newfoundland to the North American energy grid for the first time.
According to a Nalcor news release, the new interconnection, “brings opportunities to enhance system reliability and realize cost savings for electricity customers. We now have the ability to import energy over the Maritime Link that is cheaper than burning oil to generate power at Hydro’s Holyrood plant – meaning Hydro can use less oil.”
It said with the Maritime Link in service, there is greater access for sharing of power across the Atlantic provinces.
The Labrador-Island Transmission Link, part of the Musgrat Falls project, is expected to come into service around mid-2018, offering additional options to supply power to the province.
“The in-service of the Maritime Link and the Labrador-Island Link will provide opportunities to further enhance the reliability of our provincial electricity system and create value from these transmission assets in advance of the Muskrat Falls generating plant coming online in 2019.”
