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Thunder Bay Generating Station



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 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 economic downturn, Thunder Bay GS’s role has changed to providing reliability during peak demand times and back up electricity generation when other sources are not available.

Looking to the future, Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan, announced by the Minister of Energy in November 2010, proposed that Thunder Bay GS be converted to natural gas fuel.

Union Gas is responsible for, and proceeding with, natural gas pipeline studies and associated communications and approvals for potential conversion of Thunder Bay GS. OPG is assessing plant modifications required for operation on natural gas and, potentially, biomass fuel at some time in the future. Work to convert Thunder Bay GS to natural gas will preserve the option to co-fire with biomass in the future.