Two new, efficient units set to boost clean power output at Sir Adam Beck station
At OPG’s flagship Sir Adam Beck I Generating Station (GS), work is underway to replace two historic generating units that will add about 115 megawatts (MW) of incremental generating capacity to the century-old hydro station and more clean power for Ontario.
This is the first full generator replacement to take place in the facility’s long history.
“We are installing modern units that are larger – 57 MW vs. 40 MW – and will make more efficient use of the available water,” said Dave Bonell, Project Manager at OPG.
Last year, OPG removed the outdated 25 hertz (Hz) G1 and G2 turbine-generators, which were mothballed back in 2009. These original units operated on the now discontinued 25 Hz distribution system, providing power to steel mills in Hamilton and upstate New York.
With the old units now gone, engineering design and procurement activities on the $120-million clean energy project are continuing. Installation of the first new unit is scheduled to begin later this year and both new units are expected to be in service by 2022.
“We are installing modern units that are larger – 57 MW vs. 40 MW – and will make more efficient use of the available water.”Dave Bonell, Project Manager at OPG
Even though the old units were more than 99 years old, they were very well-built, Bonell said. So well-built in fact that the project team plans to reuse some of the concrete-embedded components, which will result in more project efficiencies and cost savings. These include the penstocks, the long pipes that bring water down the side of the Niagara escarpment, and draft tubes, which are fitted at the end of a turbine runner to maximize pressure.
Meanwhile, the units’ century-old cast steel scroll cases, which are spiral-shaped intakes that guide water flow into the turbine, are set to be replaced due to cracks and voids found in the castings. The replacement scroll cases are being manufactured locally in Mississauga, Ont.
First put into service in 1922, the 10-unit Sir Adam Beck I station was the largest hydro plant in North America and helped set the standard for 25 Hz power. In the 1950s, generators and household appliances were converted to run on a new standard – 60 Hz – but Sir Adam Beck I’s G1 and G2 units remained on 25 Hz right up until 2009 as it generated power for steel plants and other industries whose equipment still ran on the old frequency.
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