Electricity began flowing through the Maritime Link on Tuesday, marking the beginning of Newfoundland and Labrador importing power from Nova Scotia.

A statement released by Nalcor on Tuesday afternoon said the link will enhance the power system's reliability and save money for energy customers.

"We now have the ability to import energy over the Maritime Link that is cheaper than burning oil to generate power at Hydro's Holyrood plant — meaning Hydro can use less oil."

Maritime Link workers gathered in Point Aconi, N.S., after anchoring the sub-sea transmission cable from Cape Ray, N.L. (Emera Newfoundland and Labrador)

Nalcor CEO Stan Marshall said last week that buying power from Nova Scotia would save $50,000 a day compared with the cost of getting power from Holyrood's oil-fired generator.

Later this year, the Labrador–Island transmission link is expected to come into service.