Maritime Link seeks energy board approval for $32M submarine cable protection

Muskrat Falls, on the Churchill River in Labrador, is shown in a Feb., 2011 file photo.

The NSP Maritime Link is seeking approval for a nearly $33-million capital project to protect its submarine cables between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

In its application to the Nova Scotia Energy Board, the company says roughly 1.5 per cent of the total submarine cable length requires augmented protection. The estimated cost is $32,962,333.

“The scope of work arises primarily due to sedimentary seabed shifts since installation and additional changes to the protection from the impact of post-tropical cyclone Fiona,” the application reads.

The Maritime Link, which spans 170 kilometres, has the longest subsea electric transmission cables in North America, according to its website. Installed in 2017, the 500-megawatt interconnection provides roughly 20 per cent of Nova Scotia Power’s energy supply in the form of renewable hydroelectricity from the Muskrat Falls generating station.

“The rationale for this project related to observable changes in cable protection and the need to augment the current state of protection of the submarine cables in order to maintain their integrity and mitigate the risk from external factors,” the application reads. “The determination from condition assessments is that timely intervention is required; the localized areas, have no possibility of natural resolution and the remaining areas have not resolved naturally to date and are unlikely to resolve in the future.”

The energy board will process the application through a paper hearing, which will proceed through stages through the summer and fall.

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