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Newfoundland and Labrador’s energy resources include crude oil, hydropower and wind power. The province generates electricity from hydropower, wind power, oil, diesel and natural gas.
In 2008, the oil and utility sectors accounted for about 42 per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador’s gross domestic product, and the province received approximately $1.8 billion in oil royalties.
The energy and utilities workforce in Newfoundland and Labrador totalled 4,900 employees in 2009.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s energy exports include crude oil, refined petroleum products and electricity.
Discover the key energy facts about Newfoundland & Labrador.
By the numbers (497KB PDF)
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Crude Oil
Crude oil reserves in Newfoundland and Labrador totalled approximately 1.5 billion barrels at the end of 2009. These reserves are primarily in the offshore Jeanne d’Arc Basin approximately 300 kilometres east of St. John’s.
There are three producing fields the Jeanne d’Arc Basin – Hibernia, which averaged 125,623 barrels per day in 2009, Terra Nova, which averaged 79,534 barrels per day and White Rose, which averaged 62,457 barrels per day. Total production in 2009 amounted to 97.9 million barrels or 267,614 barrels per day.
Other projects under development in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin include Hebron/Ben Nevis with reserves of 730 million barrels of oil, 429 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 30 million barrels of natural gas liquids; West White Rose, South White Rose and North Amethyst with reserves of 150 million barrels of oil and South Hibernia with 220 million barrels of oil.
There is one onshore petroleum project, Garden Hill South, under evaluation on the Port au Port peninsula on the west coast of Newfoundland.
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Refineries
The North Atlantic Refining Ltd. Operates a 115,000 barrel per day refinery in Come By Chance, northwest of St. John’s. Crude oil is delivered by tanker from the Middle East, Russia and Venezuela.
Products include gasoline, ultra low sulphur diesel and other distillates.
The refinery employs just over 550 people.
The refinery was built between 1971 and 1973, and refined its first oil in 1973. Following the bankruptcy of its original owners in 1976, the refinery was refurbished in 1986 and again in 1994.
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Hydropower
Two companies generate hydroelectricity in Newfoundland and Labrador. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro has an installed hydroelectricity capacity of 6,386.1 megawatts and Newfoundland and Labrador Power has an installed capacity of 97 megawatts. The combined installed capacity for hydro is 6,483.1 megawatts, or 89.1 per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador’s total installed capacity.
The largest hydroelectricity plant in the province is Churchill Falls in Labrador, with an installed capacity of 5,428.7 megawatts. Most of the electricity generated at Churchill Falls is sold to HydroQuébec through a long-term agreement.
The largest hydroelectric plant on the island of Newfoundland is the 604 megawatt Bay d’Espoir facility.
In 2008, Newfoundland and Labrador hydroelectric generation totalled 41.8 terawatt-hours.
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Wind Power
There are currently three operating wind farms in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Ramea, St. Lawrence and Fermeuse wind farms.
The Ramea Wind Farm, completed in 2004, has six turbines and an installed capacity of 0.039 megawatts.
The St. Lawrence Wind Farm, on the south coast of the island, began generating electricity in 2008 and has an installed capacity of 27 megawatts.
Another commercial wind farm within the province began operating in May 2009. The Fermeuse wind farm, located on the Avalon Peninsula south of St. John's, has an installed capacity of 27 megawatts.
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Thermal Electricity Generation
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro operate one oil-fired generating station, four gas turbine generating stations and 25 diesel-fired thermal plants. Newfoundland and Labrador Power operates gas turbine generating stations and diesel-fired plants.
Combined installed capacities are 490 megawatts for oil-fired generation, 150 megawatts for gas turbine generation and 55.7 megawatts for diesel generation or 6.7 per cent, 2.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent of total installed capacity.
The oil-fired plant, Holyrood, near St. John’s, is the largest at 490 megawatts installed capacity.
The largest gas turbine plants, at 54 megawatts installed capacity each, are in Stephenville and St. Johns (Hardwoods).
The province also has one 15 megawatt thermal plant that burns woodwaste.
Thermal electricity facilities can generate power several different ways, including natural gas (represented by circles on the map), oil/diesel generation (squares), coal (triangles) and biomass (diamonds).
