Construction on Muskrat Fall to resume, but COVID stoppage to add up to six months to timeline

Construction on the Muskrat Falls hydro project will start ramping back up May 30, according to the crown corporation heading the project, but the pandemic-related halt to work will delay the dam’s completion by up to six months.

Already years behind schedule and billions over budget — the current project estimate totals $12.7 billion — the dam has faced problems with costs and schedule from the outset.

Crown-owned Nalcor Energy pulled hundreds of workers off the Labrador job site in mid-March in response to COVID-19, leaving a skeleton crew in place to look after the facilities. With the worst of the pandemic seemingly in the rearview, the utility said May 26 it will begin ramping its workforce back up to finish the project.

“Suspending work in March was a difficult decision but the right one for the protection of our workers and communities” Nalcor’s CEO, Stan Marshall, said in a release. “COVID-19 may be contained in this province for the time being but it is not conquered. Its full impact on the cost and schedule on the project is yet to be determined. I can only assure you that we will do everything we can to mitigate the impact without compromising people’s health and safety. We will keep you informed as we progress.”

It won’t be business as usual.

Marshall warned productivity will take a hit as workers adhere to physical distancing and other new safety rules. Nalcor estimates it will take between and four and six months extra to complete the project under the preventative health guidelines, depending on how effectively crews are able to work.

Construction will ramp back up over the coming months. Nalcor expects about 150 construction workers to be on-site by the end of June and as many as 300 through the summer.