Muskrat Falls power not reaching the Avalon Peninsula
The major cost in running the Holyrood plant is the cost of oil.
I read with interest Russell Wangersky’s column “Avalon Peninsula could find itself out in the cold” Aug. 19. Transmission lines are what they are, susceptible to severe weather conditions if they are above ground.
In a letter I submitted last April, “Muskrat Falls: stress testing the new transmission lines,” I pondered what would happen if the transmission line(s) from Muskrat Falls failed at various places going south, assuming Muskrat Falls was still providing power. The St. John’s area was vulnerable. Rationing power was one alternative; the other was to keep the Holyrood plant available as an emergency backup. The major cost in running the Holyrood plant is the cost of oil.
Also, I mentioned that there were problems in rerouting power through Quebec because of the limiting capacity of the transmission line from Muskrat Falls to Churchill Falls and the limiting capacity of the transmission lines between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, although the latter may be in the process of being upgraded. To reroute power through Quebec, arrangements would have to be made with Hydro-québec at an unknown cost.
About 20 years ago, Montreal and Hydro-québec experienced severe weather conditions (100 millimetres of freezing rain over five days), resulting in a loss of 30,000 utility poles and 1,000 large pylons.
Many were without electricity for over a week. Hydro-québec spent $2 billion repairing and rebuilding their network ($4.5 billion in current dollars).
The Nicolet commission concluded that Quebec’s civil security system largely failed, Quebecers were not adequately prepared for disaster, and Hydro-québec’s power grid would have been safer if the entire system had been buried.
If the isthmus between the Avalon Peninsula and the rest of the island is a vulnerable area, maybe that section of the transmission line should have been put underground.
I thank Russell Wangersky for filling in many extra details.