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Thunder Bay Generating Station
Natural Gas Conversion Project



Thunder Bay Generating Station (GS) is located in the City of Thunder Bay, next to the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority’s Mission Island Marsh. It is one of Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) five thermal electricity generating stations.

Thunder Bay GS’s two operating coal-fuelled generators, which were constructed in the early 1980s, produce up to 306 megawatts (MW) of electricity, using low-sulphur Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal. In the past decade, Thunder Bay GS’s annual electricity production has been as high as 1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), enough to power 83,000 homes. More recently, due to lower electricity demands in northwestern Ontario, Thunder Bay GS’s role has changed to meeting peak electricity demand and providing back up when other sources are not available.

Thunder Bay GS contributes more than $4 million to the community for goods and services, municipal taxes and support for community organizations and is certified to ISO 14001 environmental management standard and by the Wildlife Habitat Council.

OPG is Phasing Out Coal

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is making the transition to a lower carbon future and will phase out the use of coal to produce electricity by the end of 2014. OPG has been exploring options to convert some of its coal-fuelled electricity generators to natural gas and/or forest or agriculture-based biomass. Converting these stations allows continued use of existing facilities owned by the people of Ontario, costs less than building new stations, reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to coal, provides effective back up for other forms of generation including Ontario’s growing portfolio of intermittent renewable electricity sources, like wind and solar, and maintains employment and economic benefits in the station communities.

Converting Thunder Bay GS

Looking to the future, Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan, announced by the Minister of Energy in November 2010, stated that Thunder Bay GS will be converted to natural gas fuel. Co-firing of natural gas and biomass may be considered for OPG stations which are first converted to natural gas. Converting Thunder Bay GS to natural gas will preserve the option to co-fire with biomass in the future.

OPG is assessing plant modifications required for operation on natural gas and, potentially, biomass fuel at some time in the future. The project must comply with all provincial standards and regulations and will require environmental approvals and a solid business case approved by OPG’s Board of Directors.

Union Gas is responsible for, and proceeding with, natural gas pipeline studies and associated communications and approvals for potential conversion of Thunder Bay GS.