The link would transmit potential Lower Churchill power across the Gulf.
“We’re looking for a direct cash grant, but there (are) other options in that plan,” Nalcor Energy CEO Ed Martin said in an interview.
The P3 Canada Fund provides federal cash for infrastructure built through public-private partnerships.
The two provinces submitted their proposal in the second round of P3 applications, which closed
in June. Nalcor, Newfoundland and Labrador’s government-owned en-ergy corporation, is the contact for the joint proposal.
The private-sector participant has yet to be determined.
“We don’t know yet, because we would bid (the work),” Martin noted.
“You’d scope it out, you’d put out a scope of work, and you’d bid it to the private sector.”
The approach is in accordance with the fund’s rules, he said.
“It’s required, in essence — that’s the way you do it.”
Under P3 funding rules, the feds will cover up to 25 per cent of eligible project costs.
The Gulf link would not proceed unless the Lower Churchill hydro megaproject is given the green light.
“We’re looking for a direct cash grant, but there (are) other options in that plan,” - Nalcor Energy CEO Ed Martin
Quebec raised the ire of both Atlantic provinces when it voiced objections to the project being considered for federal cash.
Earlier this month, Premier Danny Williams called those objections “disgusting.”
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter urged Quebec officials to mind their own business.
“For them to try and stand in the way of something that would be of great benefit to our region, I think, defeats the very reason for our existence as a federated country,” Dexter told reporters in Halifax Aug. 16.
Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper sidestepped questions about the dispute.
“There’s a program at the conceptual stage, so talking about that is purely hypothetical,” Harper said in Lunenburg, N.S.
“If any province comes forward with a clean energy project, that would be evaluated purely on its merit.”
rantle@thetelegram.com
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Nova Scotia only wish they had a Danny Williams. Joey Smallwood is over, he did good and bad in his time but the year now is 2010.