R.H. Saunders GS undertakes successful transformer bank outage
Earlier this fall, units at OPG’s R.H. Saunders Generating Station (GS) underwent an outage to overhaul an important transformer key to delivering the station’s clean power to the Ontario power grid.
Efficient hydro operations are highlighted in OPG’s recently released Climate Change Plan and feature prominently in the company’s goal to be a net-zero carbon company by 2040.
In late October, the 1,045-megawatt station on the St. Lawrence River saw Units 5 to 8 shut down – 25 per cent of the plant’s capacity – to install a recently overhauled main output transformer in the plant’s T2 Transformer Bank.
This was the fourth of 12 main output transformers at Saunders to be overhauled by the station’s maintenance team. Each air-cooled, single-phase transformer is able to step up the generator voltage from 13,800 volts to 230,000 volts in order to deliver the facility’s clean electricity through high voltage power lines to the Hydro One St. Lawrence Transmission Station.
The success of this particular outage relied heavily on a number of teams at R.H. Saunders, including maintenance, operations, projects, support staff, and external contractors. Major work included technically challenging tasks like lifting and rigging the massive transformer, as well as connecting and testing the new piece of equipment.
“Bringing this outage back on time was key as we are relied upon each and every day at R.H. Saunders GS to provide a significant amount of clean, renewable, electricity for Ontarians.”Peter Forrester, Electrical Union Trades Supervisor at R.H. Saunders GS
Everyone worked safely together to plan, coordinate, and execute the major outage work in a timely fashion, said Peter Forrester, Electrical Union Trades Supervisor at R.H. Saunders GS.
“The T2 Bank outage required many different levels of expertise from our OPG staff, and throughout the industry, working together to complete the work safely and ensuring station reliability for this very important equipment,” said Forrester. “Bringing this outage back on time was key as we are relied upon each and every day at R.H. Saunders GS to provide a significant amount of clean, renewable, electricity for Ontarians.”
Aside from the transformer installation, station staff were opportunistic in completing other important unit maintenance work during the outage. This included getting a head start on a generator exciter replacement project and completing cleaning and other regular unit maintenance.
All of this work will help this important hydro station in eastern Ontario continue to safely and reliably produce clean electricity for Ontario.
Related stories
Subscribe and stay informed
Sign up to receive the latest news, project updates, and event information from OPG.