NL Hydro has outlined some of the difficulties being faced with the software controlling power distribution on the Labrador-Island Link.
Hydro this week indicated that greater capacity is needed at Bay D’Espoir and that there will be continued reliance on the Holyrood Generating Station, once identified as one of the country’s worst polluters, due to continued uncertainty on the reliability of the LIL.
Vice President of Engineering with NL Hydro, Rob Collett explained, in a nutshell, the problems being encountered with the LIL software that leaves uncertainty surrounding its reliability.
He says there are acres of equipment at Soldier’s Pond that rely on the software that controls all of those components and operations.
Unfortunately, says Collett all those elements have to work perfectly, “and we’ve been unfortunate in the number of bugs we’ve found” and that they keep emerging.
That said, Hydro is resolving those software issues, and a 475 megawatt test of the system is planned after Thanksgiving, with another, larger test planned after that.