Canadian provinces Quebec and Newfoundland have announced plans for a $5.9 billion hydro- power project on the Churchill river in Labrador. The project involves construction of a generating station on the lower portion of the river and expansion of an existing station at Churchill Falls.
Churchill Falls already has a capacity of 5400 MW. This will be increased to 6400 MW with the addition of two 500 MW turbines. Further downstream, a new 2200 MW hydropower plant will involve building a 100 m dam, roughly 1600 m long.
The two elements of the Churchill river scheme will add 3200 MW of generating capacity. Part of this power will be exported through Quebec to the USA. Electricity production is expected to start in 2007.
Also included in the scheme is the construction of an underwater transmission line from Labrador to the island of Newfoundland and construction of two other lines, one to the existing Churchill Falls plant and one to the Quebec border.
The 400 kV underwater transmission link will have a capacity of 800 MW. The other two transmission lines will operate at 735 kV. The provincial governments hope to obtain $1 billion in federal funding for the underwater connection.
Ownership of the project will be split between the provinces, with Newfoundland owning 65.8 per cent and Quebec owning 34.2 per cent. The provinces have also agreed to study the possibility of adding another, 800 MW generating station at Muskrat Falls further downriver.
Part of the rationale behind the development is to sell electricity to the northeastern USA. Hydro-Quebec will guarantee Newfoundland a floor price for electricity and then sell it on. Electricity demand on the eastern seaboard of the USA is projected to grow at one per cent per annum over the next 15 years.
The Canadian power is expected to be attractive to US utilities because it is ‘green’.
The ambitious scheme is not certain to proceed. Local Innu Indians have refused to support the project until they are compensated for the land lost when the first Churchill river project was built 30 years ago. Federal funding for the underwater transmission section of the project has yet to be secured.