Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro wants to put more than $1 billion into three projects as they work to address increasing energy needs.

CEO Jennifer Williams made the announcement during the Energy NL conference in St. John’s on Thursday.

Williams says the province will need 16 per cent more energy in the next 10 years, meaning they will need to add a minimum of 380 megawatts of capacity by 2034.

That, she says, would require investments in a new 150-megawatt unit at Bay d’Espoir, a second new 150-megawatt combustion turbine that can use renewable fuels, and investments in wind energy.

Williams says the cost will be “well over a billion dollars,” plus the cost of power purchase agreements with wind suppliers.

It has long been said that Newfoundland and Labrador has a huge surplus of power thanks to Muskrat Falls, but Williams says that excess supply will not last as demand increases.

“Just three years ago electric vehicles were only 1.5 per cent of registrations in the province. Now that number is over 9 per cent,” she said, noting any excess Muskrat Falls power will be used up by people moving to cleaner fuel sources.

Williams says any impact on rates wouldn’t be seen until after the proposed projects are done, or well into the 2030s.

“So there’s a lot of time to plan how the costs will be incorporated (into rates) long-term.”