Venezuela's strike spells trouble for NB Power

The general strike in Venezuela is causing problems at a New Brunswick power plant that gets its specialized fuel from the South American country.

Much of the world looks to Venezuela for some of its oil supply, and New Brunswick is no exception. Venezuela provides NB Power with orimulsion fuel, which is a key element in the generation of the province's electricity.

The Dalhousie plant in northern New Brunswick currently relies on orimulsion fuel. NB Power's Coleson Cove plant plans to start burning the fuel in 2004.

With Venezuela's strike entering its fourth week, the Dalhousie generating plant's supply is running low. Venezuela is the world's only supplier of orimulsion fuel.

The New Brunswick conservation council is urging the province to reduce its dependence on foreign sources.

"The whole basis of the decision to go to orimulsion at the power plant was that the State Oil Company of Venezuela was giving NB Power a fixed price contract for 20 years or more," council policy director David Coon told ATV News. "Given the current political unrest all bets are off."

NB Power says the use of orimulsion fuel at the Dalhousie plant and the conversion of the Coleson Cove plant could save province residents millions of dollars annually. However, with the fuel of choice in short supply, the plants need to consider alternatives.

"We're trying to provide stable and competitive prices in the province of New Brunswick, and ways we have to do that is to try to find fuels that are not only as inexpensive as orimulsion is, but to find fuels that can make the world cleaner," NB Power's director of public affairs Bob Scott said.

This will be the first time in nine years that NB Power's orimulsion supply has been interrupted. The Dalhousie plant may have to resort to burning a heaver crude oil, which is more expensive with less favourable emissions.