Could we do better?

Stan paddles with Holyrood Hydro Generating Station in the background

Last January Stan and I did a winter paddle in Holyrood Bay. The bay is dominated by the smokestacks of the Holyrood Hydro Generating Station.

The station has 3 oil fired furnaces that produce electricity hydro thermally. The 3 produce 394 megawatts of electricity and can supply up to 40% of the need on island of Newfoundland. Here's the dirty part. The 3 furnaces burn 6,000 barrels of Bunker C oil per day.

There's some irony in that.

In Labrador, part of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, we have the potential to produce 3,074 megawatts of hydroelectric energy. Clean renewable energy. Our Premier Danny Williams is trying to develop it and send part of it to the island for domestic use. It will cost billions; we will need investors. There are also political considerations (with Quebec) for transporting the excess production to markets in Canada and the USA.

The time is coming when it will be developed because it must be. These obstacles must be overcome.