Ontario Construction News staff writer
Hydro One Inc. has completed a $46.9 million transmission line upgrade project.
Upgrades were needed to increase the electrical capacity by 66 per cent, from 650MW to 1,080MW, to meet growing demand in the Ottawa area. The project also allows for generation facilities in eastern Ontario that will transfer power to the rest of the province and import clean energy from Quebec.
“Demand for energy in Ottawa is growing rapidly. It is important for Hydro One to make a substantial investment in building a grid for the future to support the increasing and changing needs of local businesses, residents, and the economy,” said Andrew Spencer, executive vice president at Hydro One. “As a proud member of the Ottawa community, the upgrades Hydro One continues to make will energize life for customers and improve power reliability and resiliency for years to come.”
Work started in July 2020 and included reinforcing transmission towers and replacing power lines and insulators on 12 kilometres of 230kV double circuit transmission line between Merivale Transmission Station and Hawthorne Transmission Station.
“As we further our commitment toward climate adaptation and ensuring our grid can support the energy transition and shift toward electrification, we are proud to be collaborating with our colleagues at Hydro One for this announcement, knowing we are making life better for our customers and our community,” said Guillaume Paradis, chief electricity distribution officer, Hydro Ottawa. “Increasing the capacity, reliability and resiliency of our transmission network is a vital step to ensuring the distribution system in Ottawa can provide the power needed now and in the future.”
In a separate project Hydro One is expanding the Merivale Transmission Station to house two new 230 kilovolt transformers and a new operations building. As part of this project, Hydro One has signed a new Community Support Agreement with the City of Ottawa.