March 4, 2010

Wawaitin Generating Station taken out of service as new plant built

TIMMINS, Ont.

Ontario Power Generation’s Wawaitin Generating Station, the last 25 hertz generating station in Canada, was taken out of service on this week.

Originally built in 1912 to supply power to area mines, the station was officially shut down to make way for a new generating station, part of the Upper Mattagami and Hound Chute redevelopment project.

“The 25 cycle stations have pretty much gone by the way of the horse and buggy,” said former Ontario Hydro employee Rob Armstrong, who pushed the button to officially close down the site. “It’s great to see change, it’s for the better, and it’s faster power.”

Construction of a new 60 Hz generating station just down the road is already underway.

“The new facility is using new technology to generate twice as much power, with the same volume of water,” noted OPG site representative Bruce McIvor. “The new machines allow for a lot more efficiency. It’s basically a ‘water to wire’ system now.”

The electricity used in area homes is produced as an alternating current, at a frequency of 60 cycles per second (60 Hz). In the Timmins area, 25 Hz was adopted as the standard frequency in the early 1900s, and was changed to 60 Hz through a frequency converter, transformer, and switching equipment located in Sudbury, Ont.

Completion of the Wawaitin Generating Station is slated for December of this year.

Canadian Press

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