By Michael Joel-Hansen

Northeast hydro electric station set to get major upgrades in 2019

Jan 3, 2019 | 5:22 PM

The E.B. Campbell Hydro Electric Station, which is located near Nipawin, is set to undergo a major refurbishment this year.

SaskPower Spokesperson Joel Cherry told paNOW the planned work is quite substantial.

“The work that’s actually being done includes replacement of turbines and generators, some other equipment, head gates, trash racks, step up transformers,” he said.

The hydroelectric station has been generating power since 1963. In total the station generates 289 megawatts of power for the province’s grid.

“That’s enough to power about 173,000 homes,” Cherry said.

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The Crown-owned utility expects to spend $300 million on refurbishment. Work commenced in 2016 and mainly focused on engineering the project. 

“This project’s been going on for a while and we’re expect[ing] it to be complete by 2025,” Cherry said.

The power station has eight separate units that generate power and the project will rebuild six of them. 

“Units seven and eight were previously refurbished in 2011-12,” Cherry said.

Physical construction on the dam will begin in the summer with work being done on one unit at a time. SaskPower estimated that between 60 to 70 people ranging from tradespeople to engineers will be on site during peak construction.   

“The work [is] going to be done sequentially, so, this year unit three is going to be the first one to be refurbished,” Cherry said.

Cherry explained getting the work done by the spring is important as during spring runoff is the time when water flows coming through the dam are the highest and the station has the ability to generate the most power.

In total SaskPower has 889 megawatts of hydro capacity. Overall including power purchased from Manitoba, hydro accounts for 20 per cent of the SaskPower’s total power capacity.

Cherry cited the project at E.B. Campbell as an important one because hydro is a renewable source of energy.

“We want to make sure we continue to get that clean electricity from there for a long time to come,” he said.

Once the work is finished the hydro station’s life will be extended for 50 years.  

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn