Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

Last updated
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
FormerlyNewfoundland and Labrador Power Commission
Company type Crown Corporation
Industry Electricity generation & distribution
Founded St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (1954)
Headquarters St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Key people
Jennifer Williams, President
Products Electricity
Revenue Green Arrow Up.svg $493,500,000 CAD
Owner Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Number of employees
1,150 (2005)
Subsidiaries Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Limited
Lower Churchill Development Corporation Limited
Gull Island Power Company Limited
Twin Falls Power Corporation Limited
Website www.nlh.nl.ca

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (NL Hydro), commonly known as Hydro, is a provincial Crown corporation that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as portions of Quebec and the north-eastern areas of the United States. Between 2007 and 2021, NL Hydro was a subsidiary of the provincial Crown-owned energy holding company Nalcor Energy.

Contents

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's installed generating capacity, 8034  megawatts (MW), is the fourth largest of all utility companies in Canada. Generating assets consist of 16 hydroelectric plants, including the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant, which is the second largest underground power station in the world, with a rated capacity of 5,428 MW of power, one oil-fired plant, four gas turbines and 26 diesel plants. Every year, Hydro generates and transmits over 80% of the electrical energy consumed by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians – over 6,487 GWh of energy in 2004. Hydro also distributes power directly to 35,000 customers in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

In 1975, the Newfoundland and Labrador Power Commission, a crown corporation originally established to assist in rural electrification, was renamed Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is the parent company of the Hydro Group of Companies, which comprises

Grid operations, services and connections

Atlantic power connections

The Nova Scotia government commissioned (from SNC-Lavalin) a study in 2009 to consider an Atlantic wide regional electricity market operator. [1]

A $6.2 billion deal between Newfoundland and Labrador's Nalcor Energy and Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Emera to develop Muskrat Falls was announced in November 2010. [2] On November 30, 2012, a federal loan guarantee deal for financing of the project was signed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter. [3] [4] [5] [6] On December 17, 2012, the provincial government announced project sanction. [7] [8] Emera received approval to proceed with the Maritime Link from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board in 2013. [9] Financial close for the loan guarantee occurred in late 2013. [10] On September 23, 2020, the first unit at Muskrat Falls was synced to the electricity grid in Labrador. Power from the remaining three units was originally expected to come online in the fall of 2021. [11]

Generating facilities

Hydroelectric Generating Stations

Labrador (6,271 MW)

Newfoundland (1,254 MW)

Non-Utility Generators

Thermal (Diesel) Generating Stations

Labrador (32.8 MW)

Newfoundland (23.5 MW)

Thermal (Oil) Generating Stations

Newfoundland (490 MW)

Gas Turbine Generating Stations

Labrador (27 MW)

Newfoundland (223.5 MW)

Solar Generating Stations

Highlights in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labrador</span> Mainland portion of Newfoundland and Labrador

Labrador is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its population. It is separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle. It is the largest and northernmost geographical region in the four Atlantic provinces.

Twin Falls is the site of a hydroelectric power station developed by the British Newfoundland Development Corporation (Brinco) to deliver power to mining operations in Labrador City and Wabush. Commissioned in 1963, its operation ended in 1974.

The Bay D'Espoir Hydroelectric Development, built by the Newfoundland and Labrador Power Commission is located on the south coast of Newfoundland near the rural community of Bay d'Espoir. It was the second major hydroelectric project undertaken on Newfoundland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holyrood Thermal Generating Station</span>


The Holyrood Thermal Electric Generating Station built by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation is located near the community of Holyrood, in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, Canada.

The Hinds Lake Generating Station is a hydroelectric power plant located within the Newfoundland Highland forests ecoregion, in western Newfoundland on the eastern shore of Grand Lake. It makes use of 220 m of head between Hinds Lake on the Buchans plateau and Grand Lake.

The Granite Canal Hydroelectric Generating Station is a component of the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation's Bay d’Espoir Hydro Electric Development system. The generating station has a rated capacity of 40 MW with an annual average energy production of 224 gigawatt hours (GWh). The generating unit at Granite Canal utilizes approximately 37 metres of head with a rated plant flow of 122.4 cubic metres per second. The unit is equipped with a Kaplan turbine and was first synchronized on May 26, 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Limited</span> Canadian electric company

Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Limited, also known as CF(L)Co or CFLco is a Canadian electric company. The company was founded in 1961 and is based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Limited operates as a subsidiary of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electricity sector in Canada</span>

The electricity sector in Canada has played a significant role in the economic and political life of the country since the late 19th century. The sector is organized along provincial and territorial lines. In a majority of provinces, large government-owned integrated public utilities play a leading role in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Ontario and Alberta have created electricity markets in the last decade to increase investment and competition in this sector of the economy.

Nova Scotia Power Inc. is a vertically integrated electric utility in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is privately owned by Emera and regulated by the provincial government via the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB). Nova Scotia Power Inc provides electricity to 520,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Nova Scotia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Alban's, Newfoundland and Labrador</span> Town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

St. Alban's is a town of approximately 1,200 located in the Bay d'Espoir estuary on the south coast of Newfoundland, Canada. St. Alban's is the largest community in Bay d'Espoir. The town is 180 kilometres (110 mi) south of Grand Falls-Windsor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelson River Hydroelectric Project</span> Hydroelectric project in Manitoba, Canada

The Nelson River Hydroelectric Project refers to the construction of a series of dams and hydroelectric power plants on the Nelson River in Northern Manitoba, Canada. The project began to take shape in the late 1950s, with the planning and construction of the Kelsey dam and hydroelectric power station, and later was expanded to include the diversion of the upper Churchill River into the Nelson River and the transformation of Lake Winnipeg, the world's 11th largest freshwater lake, into a hydroelectric reservoir. The project is owned and operated by Manitoba Hydro, the electrical utility in the province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydro-Québec's electricity transmission system</span> International power transmission system centred in Quebec, Canada

Hydro-Québec's electricity transmission system is an international electric power transmission system centred in Quebec, Canada. The system pioneered the use of very high voltage 735-kilovolt (kV) alternating current (AC) power lines that link the population centres of Montreal and Quebec City to distant hydroelectric power stations like the Daniel-Johnson Dam and the James Bay Project in northwestern Quebec and the Churchill Falls Generating Station in Labrador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nalcor Energy</span> Defunct provincial energy corporation

Nalcor Energy was an energy corporation which headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. A provincial Crown corporation under the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nalcor Energy was created in 2007 to manage the province's energy resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churchill Falls Generating Station</span> Hydroelectric power station in north eastern Canada

The Churchill Falls Generating Station is a hydroelectric underground power station in Labrador. At 5,428 MW, it is the sixteenth largest in the world, and the second-largest in Canada, after the Robert-Bourassa generating station in northwestern Quebec.

The Muskrat Falls Generating Station is a hydroelectric generating station in the Labrador region of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It comprises part of the remaining 35 per cent of the Churchill River that was not developed by the Churchill Falls Generating Station. The station at Muskrat Falls has a capacity of over 824 MW and provides 4.5 TWh of electricity per year.

Central Labrador is the most populous region of Labrador, Canada, that extends from the shores of Lake Melville into the interior. It is also home to Happy Valley – Goose Bay, the largest community in Labrador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Newfoundland and Labrador budget protests</span>

The 2016 Newfoundland and Labrador budget protests were a series of protests in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The protests were in opposition to the provincial budget proposed by Finance Minister Cathy Bennett which will implement tax-hikes and cuts to many public service jobs. The protests were a major part of the financial crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador.

References

  1. Province (NS) explores options for cleaner power grid
  2. McCarthy, Shawn (18 November 2010). "Churchill hydro deal signals era of Atlantic co-operation – The Globe and Mail". The Globe and Mail. Toronto.
  3. Bailey, Sue (November 30, 2012). "Harper signs loan guarantee deal for Muskrat Falls despite Quebec's outcry". Global News. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  4. "Terms of Muskrat Falls federal loan guarantee released". CBC News. Dec 4, 2012. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  5. "Harper to announce Muskrat Falls deal in Labrador". CBC News. Nov 29, 2012. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  6. "Harper 'reiterates support' for Muskrat Falls". CBC News. Sep 24, 2012. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  7. "Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Announces Sanction of the Muskrat Falls Development". Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. December 17, 2012. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  8. "$1.5B Maritime Link approved by Emera Inc". CBC News. Dec 18, 2012. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  9. "Maritime Link energy project approved by Nova Scotia's UARB". CBC News. Nov 29, 2013. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  10. "Speaking notes delivered December 10 by the Honourable Kathy Dunderdale". Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. December 17, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  11. "Muskrat Falls Generating Project". Nalcor Energy.
  12. "Nalcor Energy to be no more: Crown corporation being folded into N.L. Hydro". CBC News . June 23, 2021.
  13. "Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in N.L. considered commissioned: CEO". Globalnews.ca. April 12, 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-16.