Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
The construction site of the hydroelectric facility at Muskrat Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador is seen on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. It’s been exactly 10 years since the government in Newfoundland and Labrador green-lit Muskrat Falls, a hydroelectricity project that plunged the province into financial and political turmoil. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project is considered commissioned after years of delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns.
Jennifer Williams, CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, made the announcement Wednesday to reporters in St. John’s following a weekend of successful final testing. The project, she said, will be declared officially commissioned in the near future after paperwork is completed with the federal government.
Williams said the project passed the final round of high-power testing over the weekend on the 1,100-kilometre Labrador-Island Link. That transmission system runs from the Muskrat Falls site in Labrador to a converter station outside St. John’s.
“It’s a huge moment and I know the whole province has been waiting for it for quite some time,” Williams said. “I literally was crying … this weekend when this (testing) was all happening.”
Muskrat Falls was officially approved in 2012 with an initial price tag of around $7.4 billion, which has ballooned to more than $13 billion.
The Crown utility said in a news release on Saturday that it had completed its second 700-megawatt high-power pole test, adding that it was pleased with the link’s performance. The high-power testing is meant to determine if the link can smoothly deliver high volumes of power to the province’s grid.
A previous round of high-power tests using 700 megawatts failed last November, leaving about 58,000 people in the dark for up to 25 minutes. The utility said last month that the software problem behind that failure had been fixed.
Williams said the final cost of the project would be determined in the next few months.
“We now have to finish our (power) rate-mitigation plan with the provincial government and that will take us another few months,” she said. “There will be more to say on how the rates will evolve over time.”
The utility’s next general rate application, which will include the cost of Muskrat Falls power, won’t be made with the provincial regulator until sometime next year, Williams said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2023.
- 0135 SASPO-2988_Self serve_2026_YouTube0135 SASPO-2988_Self serve_2026_YouTube
- 0121 Ministry of Energy and Resources April 20260121 Ministry of Energy and Resources April 2026
- 0134 SASPO-2956_ Safety 20260134 SASPO-2956_ Safety 2026
- 0133 LC Trucking hiring Class 1A Payden0133 LC Trucking hiring Class 1A Payden
- 0132 UMWA 20260132 UMWA 2026
- 0129 Turnbull drivers operators0129 Turnbull drivers operators
- 0128 OSY Rentals updated0128 OSY Rentals updated
- 0126 Steel_Reef_Promo_0126 Steel_Reef_Promo_
- 0118 IBEW 30 sec0118 IBEW 30 sec
- 0114 Prospera Bold Vision0114 Prospera Bold Vision
- 0113 Miller Epic Cinematic Hollywood trailer0113 Miller Epic Cinematic Hollywood trailer
- 0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended0102 Lori Carr Coal Extended
- 0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p0099 Mryglod Steel 1080p
- 0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it0095 Fast Trucking nearly 70 years good at it
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan Teaser
- 0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech0077 Caprice Resources Stand Up For Free Speech
- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0018 IWS Hiring Royal Summer
- 0013 Panther Drilling PO ad 03 top drive rigs
- 0002 gilliss casing services0002 gilliss casing services
- 9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX9002 Pipeline Online 30 sec EBEX
- 9001