[cdn-nucl-l] Manitoba and Ontario look at Nelson River hydro power deal

["Jerry Cuttler" <jerrycuttler@rogers.com>]

FYI
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Manitoba and Ontario look at huge power deal
Last Updated Fri, 20 Jun 2003 21:50:22

THUNDER BAY, ONT. - Ontario and Manitoba have launched a feasibility study
into what could become one of Canada's biggest hydro-electricity projects.

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer met Ontario's Ernie Eves in Thunder Bay, Ont.,
Friday to sign a memorandum to study the Conawapa dam project.

The study will cost $2 million, split among Ottawa and the two provinces.

Doer hailed the deal as the start of a new era in which all provinces will
work together to develop an east-west power grid to provide renewable, clean
and affordable energy to Canadians.

The project involves building a 1,250-megawatt generating station on the
Nelson River about 800 kilometres north of Winnipeg, and a transmission line
to take electricity from northern Manitoba to Ontario's industrial
heartland.

Eves said the construction alone would generate billions of dollars worth of
jobs and business in both provinces.

The station won't get built unless Hydro One, the Crown corporation that
runs Ontario's electricity grid, agrees to buy power from Manitoba Hydro.

A similar plan was proposed in the 1980s, but was dropped when demand for
power fell.

Industry analysts say if the project goes ahead this time, it will be
several years before any energy is sent eastward.

The feasibility study is expected to take until the end of the year to
complete. After that, environmental studies would have to be completed and
the project would have to pass a public review.

Then the station would be under construction for five years. There are
already three hydro stations on the Nelson with a capacity to generate 3,600
megawatts.

Written by CBC News Online staff