Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (NL Hydro), commonly known as Hydro, is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as portions of Quebec and the north-eastern areas of the United States. Between 2007 and 2021, NL Hydro was a subsidiary of the provincial Crown-owned energy holding company Nalcor Energy. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's installed generating capacity, 8,034 megawatts (MW), is the fourth largest of all utility companies in Canada. Generating assets consist of 16 hydroelectric plants, including the Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant, which is the second largest underground power station in the world, with a rated capacity of 5,428 MW of power, one oil-fired plant, four gas turbines and 26 diesel plants. Every year, Hydro generates and transmits over 80% of the electrical energy consumed by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians – over 6,487 GWh of energy in 2004. Hydro also distributes power directly to 35,000 customers in rural Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1975, the Newfoundland and Labrador Power Commission, a crown corporation originally established to assist in rural electrification, was renamed Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is the parent company of the Hydro Group of Companies, which comprises

Grid operations, services and connections

Atlantic power connections

The Nova Scotia government commissioned (from SNC-Lavalin) a study in 2009 to consider an Atlantic wide regional electricity market operator. A $6.2 billion deal between Newfoundland and Labrador's Nalcor Energy and Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Emera to develop the Lower Churchill Project was announced in November 2010. On November 30, 2012, a federal loan guarantee deal for financing of the project was signed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter. On December 17, 2012, the provincial government announced project sanction. Emera received approval to proceed with the Maritime Link from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board in 2013. Financial close for the loan guarantee occurred in late 2013. On September 23, 2020, the first unit at Muskrat Falls was synced to the electricity grid in Labrador. Power from the remaining three units was originally expected to come online in the fall of 2021. However, there were delays in construction, including on the corresponding Labrador–Island Link which will transmit generated power to a converter outside St. John's.

Generating facilities

Hydroelectric Generating Stations

Labrador (6,271 MW)

Newfoundland (1,254 MW)

Non-Utility Generators

Thermal (Diesel) Generating Stations

Labrador (32.8 MW)

Newfoundland (23.5 MW)

Thermal (Oil) Generating Stations

Newfoundland (490 MW)

Gas Turbine Generating Stations

Labrador (27 MW)

Newfoundland (223.5 MW)

Solar Generating Stations

Highlights in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro