Maritime Link to bring electricity to Nova Scotia on time and on budget

ST. JOHN'S, N. L. (CP) — The $ 1.6- billion Maritime Link that is now under construction as part of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project is on time and on budget, says the head of Emera (TSX:EMA) in Newfoundland and Labrador.

President and CEO Rick Janega said about 300 people are now working on the subsea cable and transmission line to connect the island of Newfoundland to Nova Scotia.

The 170-kilometre underwater link is also on schedule to be in service in October 2017, he told reporters Monday before updating the St. John's Board of Trade.

“We're very pleased with progress. Things are going very well and we're on time and on budget,'' Janega said.

“We have no concerns at this point that there will be any delays to getting that in-service date.''

At its peak, Janega said the project will create up to 600 direct jobs not including spinoffs.

Tree and ground clearing is underway for 400 kilometres of above-ground line with more than 1,000 transmission structures and seven terminals, he said in a luncheon speech. Contracts worth about $100 million have been awarded.

The joint project between Crown corporation Nalcor Energy and private utility Emera would bring power from Muskrat Falls to the island of Newfoundland then on to Nova Scotia.

The total price estimate for the development on the lower Churchill River near Happy Valley-Goose Bay is close to $8.6 billion including Emera's share of the Maritime Link. The link was earlier projected to cost about $1.52 billion. Those forecasts were raised at a later planning stage to $1.577 billion, narrowly within the maximum of $1.58 billion approved by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

The Maritime Link subsea cable system will stretch from Cape Ray, N.L., to a site near Point Aconi in Cape Breton.