OPG’s Atikokan Generating Station marks 40th anniversary

At a glance

• Atikokan Generating Station, North America’s largest 100% biomass-fueled power plant, is celebrating its 40th birthday.
• The station ran as a coal-fired facility for 27 years before undergoing a major transformation to biomass.
• As a peaking plant, Atikokan GS can quickly ramp up power generated from burning sustainably sourced wood pellets, a key differentiator to other forms of renewable generation.

In the northwest, OPG’s Atikokan Generating Station (GS) is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and a second life as North America’s largest 100% biomass-fueled power plant.

In early June, OPG employees and members of the community marked the major milestone during an event at the station, which is situated on the shores of Marmion Lake about 200 km west of Thunder Bay.

Atikokan GS first roared to life in November 1985 as a coal-fired facility. When the plant was first commissioned by OPG’s predecessor company, Ontario Hydro, it represented the latest in thermal generation, featuring a single unit capable of producing 230 megawatts (MW).

But by the early 2000s, a shift was coming as the Ontario government pledged to eliminate coal-fired power entirely, a feat that OPG helped accomplish in 2014 with the elimination of its coal fleet.

Rather than be shut down, however, Atikokan GS was reinvented into a 210 MW biomass powerhouse—the largest on the continent.

Through a $170 million transformation between 2012 and 2014, Atikokan saw its coal boilers replaced with 15 state-of-the-art biomass burners. Two 44-metre silos, each holding 5,000 tons of wood pellets, were also built on-site.

On July 24, 2014, the station returned to service to officially begin its second chapter as a clean, renewable energy facility, burning sustainably sourced wood pellets from the forests of northwestern Ontario.

Providing power when it’s needed most

Though it doesn’t run around the clock, Atikokan GS plays a vital role in Ontario’s power system as it provides dispatchable electricity—meaning it’s ready to step in during periods of high demand.

In 2021 alone, the plant generated 164 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity, or enough to power more than 70,000 homes—its best performance as a biomass station.

With a team of around 60 employees, Atikokan GS is one of the largest employers in the area and the largest consumer of industrial wood pellets in Canada. The plant also supports about 100 more jobs in the local supply chain.

In addition to the direct economic impacts and the station’s power production, Atikokan GS also supports local health care, library upgrades, environmental projects, and Indigenous partnerships through OPG’s Power for Change Project.

From coal to biomass, and from regional generator to global example, Atikokan GS and its workers continue to redefine what can be possible.