In a key milestone for the Maritime Link project, Nalcor Energy has begun delivery of the “Nova Scotia Block” of clean energy from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project through the Maritime Link transmission system.
Peter Gregg, president and CEO of NS Power, said the arrival of the Nova Scotia block puts the utility on track to receive about 60 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022.
“This will help us achieve our shared goal of 80 per cent renewable by 2030,” Gregg said.
The Maritime Link, a subsidiary of Halifax-based Emera, is a 500-megawatt transmission system consisting of overland and subsea components. It includes the longest submarine electricity connection in North America, running from Cape Ray, N.L. to Point Aconi, N.S. Construction of the project received regulatory approval in 2013 and was completed in 2017, with the transmission system placed into service in January 2018.
“This transformative project will deliver clean, renewable energy to customers for generations to come and it is the first step in the regional transmission interconnections that will move us toward achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 in Nova Scotia,” Rick Janega, Emera’s chief operating officer for Canada and the Caribbean, said in the news release.
Emera has submitted the final bill of $1.7 billion for the Maritime Link to Nova Scotia regulators. That amount is $1.57 billion for capital costs and an additional $208 million as an allowance for funds used during construction.