First power flows from Muskrat Falls, in major project milestone

Source: · CBC NEWS · | September 23, 2020

Electricity synced to Labrador grid Tuesday evening

An aerial photo of the powerhouse on the Muskrat Falls project site, from February. The dam's first generating unit has successfully sent power into the Labrador electricity grid. (Submitted by Nalcor)

In a major milestone for the mega-project dogged by delays, electricity from the first generating unit of Muskrat Falls flowed into the Labrador grid Tuesday evening for the first time.

"Reaching this milestone has not been without its challenges and setbacks," Nalcor said in a press release Wednesday afternoon, crediting its contractors, unions, workers and Indigenous partners the Innu Nation in helping them achieve what it called a "significant" event.

While the first power has successfully synced up to the grid, Nalcor said that unit will not go into service before several weeks of testing this fall.

"Through this testing period, the unit will be put on and off the electricity grid until we are ready to turn the unit over to operations," Nalcor said.

During the commissioning period, Muskrat Falls's power will be added to Labrador's electricity grid, it said.

The second generating unit is expected to begin operating later this fall, with the third and fourth units set to come online in 2021.