N.L. Hydro pitches $2B plan to expand Bay d'Espoir plant, add combustion turbine in Holyrood

Alex Kennedy · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 2:48 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro says it's moving guardant connected projected plans to grow its resources arsenic powerfulness request grows, pitching astir $2 cardinal in developments to the Public Utilities Board.

Rob Collett, Hydro's vice-president of engineering, said the transportation to the PUB serves arsenic a "minimum concern approach" that proposes 2 enlargement projects — a caller 150-megawatt combustion turbine successful Holyrood, N.L., and a caller 150-megawatt generating portion astatine the existing Bay d'Espoir hydroelectric dam.

The turbine would outgo astir $890 cardinal and operation would statesman successful 2026, according to the 800-plus leafage proposal, portion a caller generating portion successful Bay d'Espoir would outgo a projected $1.08 cardinal with construction beginning successful 2028.

Those pricings person changed since they were archetypal reported successful July 2024. Originally projected to beryllium betwixt $1.2 and $1.6 cardinal for the pair, Friday's estimates present harvester to astir $1.97 billion.

Collett said that's due to the fact that Hydro present has much information.

"We person a amended consciousness of not lone what we're building, but however we're going to physique it. All those indirect costs, arsenic good arsenic the aspects of risk," Collett told reporters.

"Aspects similar tariffs and those kinds of things tin weigh into those estimates arsenic well. All those pieces person fed into the fig we've presented today."

The projects would beryllium acceptable for cognition successful 2029 and 2031 respectively.

Hydro has said some projects would assistance successful retiring the Holyrood thermal generating station — which would outgo hundreds of millions of dollars to support operational beyond 2030.

"The units wrong that works request to beryllium retired, and this is the astir outgo effectual mode to bash that," Collett said.

However, helium said determination are different factors successful play that could support Holyrood online. For example, the presumption presently serves arsenic backup powerfulness for the Labrador Island Link — which has faced reliability concerns.

"We could beryllium successful a presumption by the extremity of the decennary to discontinue the plant, but it's a fig of factors astatine play there. It could beryllium much load growth, we could request much backup depending connected reliability considerations," Collett said.

"A apt concern is we mightiness request much sources of supply, and we'll bring those online arsenic rapidly arsenic we can."

Parties committed to keeping powerfulness rates low

Power usage crossed Newfoundland reached 1,691 megawatts successful 2024, according to N.L. Hydro, and is expected to summation by an further 14 per cent to 1,928 megawatts by 2035.

But with that summation successful needed power, Collett said some Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and the provincial authorities are committed to marque definite energy rates don't summation with it.

"The bully quality is these projects are going to beryllium a fewer years earlier they're successful service, not until the extremity of the decade. And truthful determination volition beryllium perfectly nary interaction until then," helium said.

"After that, you know, we person a committedness from the provincial authorities astir complaint mitigation. That rates volition beryllium minimized. We're going to minimize rates to get them arsenic debased arsenic imaginable for customers."

Environmental concerns were besides considered, Collett said, since the combustion turbine would pain diesel.

The turbine would lone beryllium utilized arsenic a backup arsenic a peaking installation with constricted use, helium added.

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