“We’re not out of the woods, but we are absolutely seeing daylight from where we are right now.”

That was the message from NL Hydro VP Rob Collett, who provided an update on the Bay d’Espoir power plant earlier today.

The presence of thick frazil ice has created an unprecedented situation at the plant, with officials yesterday asking people to conserve energy and warning that rotating power outages could be implemented.

Collett says there is still a power warning in effect, but they are “cautiously optimistic” following what he calls a “breakthrough” for ice clearing at the plant late last night.

He says the divers, who are working in a -25 windchill, were able to peel off sections of ice “the size of mattresses.” He says, piece by piece, they were able to get three of their penstocks cleared, there is one still blocked. Because of that, Hydro now has six of their seven generators back online.

Collett says two of the generators are operating at 50 megawatts, while the others are operating at 20 megawatts.

While this is positive news, Collett warns they are still dealing with a “delicate situation.”

He says ice is still surrounding the penstocks, so they have to take things slowly to ensure another ice jam doesn’t happen.