Electrical Business

Features Indigenous Energy & Power Generation

28MW Peter Sutherland Sr. generating station officially open

August 30, 2017 | By Anthony Capkun


An inside view of the completed powerhouse. Photo courtesy Coral Rapids Power.

August 30, 2017 – Last week, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN) celebrated the official opening of the $300-million Peter Sutherland Sr. Generating Station.

Completed this Spring, the 28MW waterpower project is a partnership between OPG and Coral Rapids Power, a company wholly owned by TTN. The station came in on-budget and ahead of schedule, adds OPG, and with no lost-time incidents.

The project team installed two turbines, a steel penstock, a 340-m long open channel, a spillway dam and 7-km transmission line.

Located about 80 km north of Smooth Rock Falls (near the junction of New Post Creek and the Abitibi River), the Peter Sutherland Sr. GS is named after a community elder. At peak, over 200 people worked on project, including close to 50 Indigenous people, says OPG.

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In fact, about 60% of the total labour requirement for the onsite work was met by the northern Ontario labour market. Meantime, Indigenous contractors supplied $50-million worth of goods and services to the project.

“Our partnership with OPG is strong due to the relationship we’ve built on a foundation of respect and trust,” said Coral Rapids Power president Wayne Ross. “Our community members have gained a long-term revenue stream and transferable skills that our members will use on other infrastructure projects.”

PHOTO: An inside view of the completed powerhouse. Courtesy Coral Rapids Power.


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