Ontario Power Generation

Hydroelectricity at Niagara

Like all good next-door neighbours, Canada and the United States share their common resources. The Niagara River, for example, forms the international border dividing the two countries on the Niagara Peninsula south of Lake Ontario. So who owns the rights to the water power of the river? In 1950, the two countries signed the Niagara Treaty to formalize the revised agreement for sharing the river's water. A minimum amount of water is guaranteed to flow over the falls. The balance—about two-thirds of average water flow—is split between the two jurisdictions for the generation of hydroelectricity.

Spare Capacity

Originally, Canada used its full quota of water at several generating stations, including the Toronto Power Generating Station, the Ontario Power Generating Station, the Rankine Generating Station, as well as the Sir Adam Beck Generating Stations. Now, all but the Sir Adam Beck Generating Stations have been retired. Consequently, OPG cannot make use of all the Niagara River water allocated to Canada. Because of recent upgrades, however, the Sir Adam Beck Generating Stations have spare generating capacity—all they need is more water. That's where the new tunnel comes in.

The Niagara Tunnel Project—Making Use of an Untapped Resource

At a time when Ontarians want to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, it makes sense to use all of Ontario's available hydroelectricity potential. OPG is currently building the Niagara Tunnel to increase the flow of water to the Sir Adam Beck Generating Stations. OPG's contractor, Strabag, chose to use Big Becky—the largest Tunnel Boring Machine of its kind—so that the Niagara Tunnel would be as large as possible. In this way, OPG will be able to increase the stations' annual electricity output by 1.6 billion kilowatt hours.