Decision Seen Soon on Big Newfoundland Power Plan
November 19, 2002
MONTREAL - Newfoundland expects to know within days whether a C$5 billion, 2,000 megawatt power project at Gull Island in the Labrador region of eastern Canada will go ahead, officials said on Tuesday.
"The premier has said that he would have some sort of an idea within a matter of days as to which way this will go," Carl Cooper, spokesman for Newfoundland Premier Roger Grimes, told Reuters. "We don't have a deal yet, but we are working on it and we should know in a matter of days."
Newfoundland and Quebec, which would buy most of the electricity produced at Gull Island, reached an agreement in principle on the project in August. Earlier this month, Quebec government sources told Reuters that a final deal was imminent.
Aside from concluding terms, which would include financing, with Quebec, Newfoundland still has to reach an agreement on the project with local aboriginal groups.
Expectations are that Quebec would help Newfoundland finance the project, some C$1 billion of which would be devoted to building long-distance high voltage transmission lines to carry the power to Quebec's power grid. Gull Island is located about 225 kilometers (140 miles) from the massive Churchill Falls hydro-electric development in Newfoundland's central Labrador region.
Virtually all the electricity produced at Gull Island would likely be sold to Hydro-Quebec with recall rights held by Newfoundland. Environmental assessments would also have to be conducted to gauge the impact of the project.
If the project gets the green light from all sides soon, construction could begin in 2005 and be completed in 2012.
The Gull Island project is viewed as a key resource development for Newfoundland. It could also do much to mend relations between Newfoundland and Quebec, which exports substantial amounts of power to the U.S. New England states.
Under a much earlier long-term contract involving Churchill Falls, Quebec buys electricity from Newfoundland at low rates and resells it at much higher rates in the province or the United States. |
