Guest Post by PlanetNL
PlanetNL23:
Backup Power Risks Reveal More Pre-Sanction Shenanigans
Two new reports on the Public Utilities Board (PUB) website
shatter the illusion that the Muskrat Falls project will avoid the need for
oil-fired generation in the province. Upon
decommissioning of the 490MW steam generation capacity at the Holyrood Thermal
Generating Station, there is a critical reliability scenario arising in the all
too likely event the Labrador Island Link (LIL) experiences an outage that will
lead to a 500MW capacity deficit on the Avalon Peninsula. Another report identifies that even when
Muskrat runs optimally, there is insufficient capacity reserve without the
addition of two new 58.5MW Combustion Turbines (CTs).
This new information gives further evidence of how Nalcor
distorted the comparison of the Isolated vs Interconnected pre-sanction
scenarios to favour Muskrat. As reality
sets in, Nalcor finds itself left with only one viable solution: the installation
of several new diesel CTs, likely on the very same Holyrood site. The irony of building the colossal Muskrat
Falls megaproject for the purpose of closing Holyrood, only to find that a
direct replacement must be constructed, is an astonishingly shameful exposure
of Nalcor’s deceit.
