Students get a hands-on taste of the trades at OPG’s Lennox Generating Station

There was plenty to see and do as more than 30 booths were set up in three areas at the Lennox GS site, featuring current OPG tradespeople, including welders, millwrights, and divers. Some nifty technologies were also on display, including drones and Boston Dynamics’ Spot the robot dog.

Did you know? As a peaking plant, Lennox GS provides essential back-up power for Ontario to meet periods of high demand. The plant will play an important role in the province’s transition to a net-zero future by enabling more intermittent renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, which require back-up power.

At the welding simulator, students got to try their hand at some virtual welding through OPG’s VR training simulator. Others got to see what it’s like to don the heavy diving helmet used by OPG’s skilled team of diving inspectors.

Students also got to check out some massive turbine parts, step inside an actual power plant control room, try on some protective equipment for electrical work, and even take a mechanical aptitude test.

“As OPG leads the energy transition and delivers mega projects, the need for skilled trades has increased significantly. In Ontario alone, we will need almost 500,000 trades to support construction over the next 10 years,” said Subo Sinnathamby, OPG’s Chief Projects Officer. “That’s why it was wonderful to see so many students be engaged and take an interest in the trades and see the important role they have in providing safe, reliable power for Ontario. We hope to see many of them join OPG and the energy industry in the future.”

In all, more than 85 OPG workers and over 20 external individuals, including representatives from union partners, Skills Ontario, St. Lawrence College, Durham College, and Indigenous employment agencies, helped make Trades Promoting Trades a success as they imparted some of their knowledge to the next generation.

“It took a true team effort, and the commitment and help from people across OPG, to pull together such a comprehensive event in such a short turnaround,” said Konarowski, who added the event was organized in only six weeks.

With this success, Konarowski says more similar trades events will be planned at Lennox GS and potentially at other OPG sites across Ontario.

Events like these are key to building the pipeline of workers needed for the future, particularly as electrification and more clean power projects push the demand for skilled trades in the energy sector.

To learn more about current opportunities at OPG, and how you can electrify your career, visit opg.com/careers.