Tag: Churchill Falls

Maritime Canada Trip – Days 18 to 21 – Churchill Falls to Home

Churchill Falls Generating Station switch yard

Day 18 – Friday August 18, 2018

Path for August 18, 2018 – Churchill Falls to Labrador City

Churchill Falls to Labrador City

The reason that town of Churchill Falls exists is because of water. Visionaries had the idea to use that water to create a gigantic electric power plant. That vision sprung to life starting in 1967 when they broke ground in the wilderness to create the Churchill Falls Generating Station. It is jointly by owned by Newfoundland and Labrador’s Nalcor Energy with minority partner Hydro Quebec. It generates 5.4 gigawatts of power and a total 35,000 GWh throughout the year which is almost 1% of the world’s hydroelectric generation.  At the time it was built it was the the largest civil engineering project ever undertaken in North America and the largest underground generating facility in the world. Now it’s number 2. It has a lopsided financial arrangement as Nalcor currently earns $63 million per year with Hydro Quebec earning $1.6 billion! If you have any interest in the politics and challenges of a large public works project like Churchill Falls, you can find some interesting reading online.

Continue reading Maritime Canada Trip – Days 18 to 21 – Churchill Falls to Home

Maritime Canada Trip – Day 15 to 17 – Nain, South to Goose Bay, and the road to Churchill Falls

Icebergs in the Labrador Sea

Day 15 – Wednesday – August 15, 2018

Path for August 15, 2018 – Natuashish,north to Nain, south to Natuashish, & Sea at Night

We woke to get some breakfast and as we finished, the Northern Ranger started its last leg of our northward journey.  The skies were grey as we left Natuashish but that didn’t stop us from returning to the bow for the rest of the morning with Dave, Anne, and Pastor Andrews. As morning wore on, the weather began to improve and we occasionally saw the sun as we moved through the many islands and rocky points of land. We were on the way to Nain. During this part of the trip we rounded Paul Island and got the furthest north of our trip at N56°33’44”. The lighting conditions were not great for photos but I have included a couple here so you can see what it looked like. Better ones are coming later during the return trip.

  • One of many small islands near Nain
  • Rocky Shores of Paul Island
Continue reading Maritime Canada Trip – Day 15 to 17 – Nain, South to Goose Bay, and the road to Churchill Falls