Bringing Muskrat Falls power means drilling deeper than ever before

Workers on the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project are breaking new ground as they drillholes deep under the sea to house the underwater cablesbringing power from Labrador to Newfoundland.

The holes travel1.2kilometreson the Labrador side, andalmost double that distance on the Newfoundland sidedrilling throughthat amount of landto get to the ocean floorhas never been done before.

When completed, overhead transmission lines will carry the power to Forteau on the Southern Labrador coast. From there, underwater cables will cross the straight of Belle Isle to bring the power to Newfoundland.

Subsea cables are nothing new, butthe Strait of Belle Isle is known for nasty weather conditions. Northern winds often blow icebergs that are up to 70 metres deep, soworkers need to make sure they drill deep enough to clear the bottom.

"Basically we drill out on the downstream side of the bank better than 70metres and there's one in a 10,000-year chance that one of those icebergs is going to contact one of these cables," said Greg Fleming,Nalcor'smarine crossing project manager.

It may be the longest landfall drilling, but Fleming said Newfoundland and Labrador hasplenty ofdeep drilling activity to learn from.

"We've applied oil field technology to it. The bits are oilfield technology.The mud system is oilfield technology as well as the directional and the directional is how we control the bit. And that's allowed us to get extremely smooth holes and have extremely good productivity," he said.

Crews are putting the finishing touches on the drillingin Forteau. They'll start in on the Newfoundland side this week. Once that's done, it's time to lay the power cables.

"We've got a construction season in 2015 where we install land cable and in 2016 where we install the marine cable and place the rock protection,"Fleming said..

Eventually,30 kilometres of cable willcross the Strait of Belle Isle.The cable will connect with transmission lines on the island to carry power to Newfoundland and Labrador households by 2017.