Politicians ponder development of Gull Island
International eyes on Labrador’s Churchill River’s green-energy potential
With the mess the Muskrat Falls project became and fears of the possible doubling of electrical bills come the fall without a rate-mitigation plan, most people in the province likely don’t want to hear about another mega hydroelectric development in Labrador.
But Gull Island and its potential 2,250-megawatt generating capacity has been popping up time and again in the last couple of months.
The Premier’s Economic Recovery Team (PERT), led by Dame Moya Greene, recommended the province package the Churchill Falls River resources — including the yet-undeveloped Gull Island project — into a single opportunity to maximize the economic value for the province to help get it back on its financial feet.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Andrew Furey have noted that Newfoundland and Labrador’s hydroelectric potential is huge, and that there have been talks with the Atlantic provinces on a potential future endeavour called the Atlantic Loop — an idea to connect the Atlantic provinces and potentially Quebec in a greenenergy network with Muskrat Falls, Gull Island and possibly the Upper Churchill.
Furey has said, however, that Atlantic Loop discussions cannot proceed until Muskrat Falls rate mitigation is dealt with.
Stan Marshall, the former president and CEO of Nalcor Energy, said recently that the time to go after the Gull Island project is now, while the province has the experience, skill and expertise available.
Progressive Conservative Interim Leader David Brazil asked the government in the House of Assembly Wednesday if there are any ongoing discussions about developing Gull Island.
Furey replied there are not. “Gull Island is an incredible asset, it’s one that we responsibly need to look at and it’s one that we would be, frankly, irresponsible to blindly turn an eye to,” Furey said. “It’s an incredible asset, especially in this time of transition in a disruptive energy marketplace. We need to make sure that we’re looking at it, but we ultimately need to make sure it returns the maximum value to the people of this province.
“I’m sure I share everyone’s hope and optimism for Gull Island here in this House, but we need to make sure, given the past experiences with two previous hydroelectric projects, that we do this right, we do it responsibly and we do it prudently so that the returns are Newfoundlanders’ and Labradorians’.”
Brazil questioned the government about whether there are talks ongoing with Australian company Fortescue about a potential Gull Island partnership.
He said with rumours of great interest in Gull Island, the province should “commit to a worldwide, open call for proposals on Gull Island development and bring forward the top three proposals to this House for public debate.”
“We learned from what’s happened with the hydroelectric projects that we’ve had going back 50 years. If we were to do anything in Newfoundland and Labrador, it should be on a global scale. It should be seeing what partners are potentially out there, who has the best proposal to develop hydroelectric power in Newfoundland and Labrador, who is making the best proposal that benefits the people of Newfoundland and Labrador,” Brazil said.
“We are asking for a worldwide call for proposals because there may be other stakeholders out there who have the resources and the expertise to come in and have a discussion about what role government or local companies play in the development of Gull Island. It’s a very positive, potential game changer for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, not only when we talk about the Atlantic Loop, but when we talk about hydroelectric power in North America.”
Andrew Parsons, minister of Industry, Energy and Technology, said there are no ongoing discussions, but there was a meeting at the end of last year with Fortescue, which expressed interest, and there has been some contact since.
“They’re absolutely a huge company. We’ve had conversations with them to listen to what they have to say,” Parsons said. “It would be irresponsible not to listen to people that want to invest in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I think we have to look at (Gull Island). I don’t think it’s a bad idea to look at anything. It’s the case of pulling the trigger on something without having done the work, that’s when you end up having negative repercussions.
“We’ve got a lot experience in dealing with this now. We’ve got a lot of lessons learned that we can look back to. So I don’t think it’s wrong to have the conversation about Gull Island, about that asset. The timing, how it’s financed, how it works, federal involvement, Hydroquébec involvement, Atlantic Canadian involvement … we are not at that stage yet, but I don’t think we should be afraid of it. We have this huge asset that everybody wants in on, basically, probably the most prestigious undeveloped hydro asset in North America. I’m not going to be afraid to have chats about it, but I’m very cognizant of the history that we have as a province.”