NL Hydro is looking at developing an 8th generating unit at Bay d’Espoir and having a back-up generator at Holyrood to meet an anticipated 13 per cent increase in demand over the next decade.

NL Hydro CEO Jennifer Williams says they’re looking at a variety of options to gradually increase capacity to meet demand forecasts over the next ten years.

That includes another unit at the Bay d’Espoir hydro facility.

She says while it hasn’t gone before the regulator yet, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’re looking at an 8th unit as a possible solution to meeting that 13 per cent increase in demand. “It’s a great solution, it’s an existing facility, it was always designed to be able to handle an 8th unit.”

In the meantime, they’re also considering a back-up at Holyrood, and the potential for wind generation.

“Essentially a back-up/peaker unit at Holyrood,” says Williams, making use of “a combustion turbine that can use renewable fuels in the future.” She also admits, that it won’t be tomorrow, but they expect to make an application for wind. “For example, that unit down in Bay d’Espoir is a capacity unit…but you need energy as well, so, we think that we’re going to make a call for wind in the coming years as well.”

All that will cost money of course, so expect more potential rate increases in the coming years.