July 16, 2014 – SNC-Lavalin has been awarded a contract by Manitoba Hydro to design and build the Keewatinoow 230kV AC Switchyard located 775 km northeast of Winnipeg. Valued at $112 million, this is the largest fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract ever issued by Manitoba Hydro, it said.

Keewatinoow will transfer power from the Nelson River’s northern generating stations to Manitoba Hydro’s customers in the south via the future Bipole III HVDC transmission line. Close to 1400 km long, Bipole III is required to improve the overall system reliability and dependability of Manitoba’s power transmission and distribution network, noted SNC-Lavalin.

The Keewatinoow switchyard project consists of a nine-bay switchyard, including all grounding, bus work, lighting, apparatus, protection and controls. SNC-Lavalin will undertake the design, procurement, construction, and pre-commissioning work for the switchyard, and then assist Manitoba Hydro with the operational commissioning and training of facility staff.

“This contract represents a milestone in the working relationship between Manitoba Hydro and SNC-Lavalin, which extends back over 20 years,” said Alexander (Sandy) Taylor, president, Power, SNC-Lavalin Group. “We are pleased to put our extensive expertise in switchyard design and construction to use to help create a more reliable and efficient network for the people of Manitoba.”

Early ground works have already begun and the project is expected to be substantially complete in mid-2017.