BRUCE POWER STATION A
Acres International/Sargent & Lundy, E.S. Fox (ASLF)
Acres International of Oakville, Ontario was part of the ASLF joint venture that refurbished two 1970s-era nuclear generators at the Bruce Power A generating station in Kincardine, Ontario, 250 kilometres north of Toronto. Reactors 3 and 4 — 750 MW each — had been idle since 1998. The station has four additional working reactors and two still laid up.
Work on reactors 3 and 4 included engineering, procurement and construction of $100 million in modifications. They included a seismic assessment and upgrades, fire protection modifications, new emergency power and replacement of the primary heat transport instrumentation.
By the time both units were operational by January this year, the 2 1/2-year project had required the installation of nearly 60 kilometres of cable and 200,000 electrical connections. Over 200 engineering and support staff as well as 450 trades were employed in the refurbishment.
Alan O’Brien, P.Eng. is the project manager with Acres International.
NIAGARA REINFORCEMENT PROJECT
Teshmont
Teshmont Consultants of Winnipeg is working with Pegasus Power Systems of Toronto on a proposed new transmission system for areas in the northeast United States hit by the great blackout last August. The Niagara Reinforcement project would build a power backbone along existing railway rights of way, connecting substations in central New York, New York City and New Jersey. Pegasus has secured 360 miles of rights of way for 80 years.
Teshmont has done preliminary designs for the 500 kV HVDC transmission system. At the northern end a large AC/DC converter would be sited between substations which are connected directly to the Quebec and Ontario grids, as well as to generators in Oswego and Niagara Falls. The cables will be installed using very long trains, six miles long.
David Fletcher, P.Eng. is the project manager at Teshmont.
ETHIOPIAN VILLAGE ELECTRIFICATION
Tecsult
Groupe Tecsult of Montreal is helping the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation to bring electricity to 26 villages in seven regions of rural Ethiopia.
Tecsult, which has been working in Africa for 20 years, will develop the engineering design, tender documents and oversee the construction of the new power infrastructure. It consists of 2,500 kilometres of medium 33 kV distribution line, a 210-kilometre network of low-voltage line, and 18 new substations.
The value of the project is US $37 million. It will be carried out over 29 months.
Normand Levesque, P.Eng. is the project manager at Tecsult.
GRANITE CANAL HYDROELECTRIC GENERATING STATION
AMEC and BAE Newplan Group
Newfoundland & Labrador Hydro’s $135-million generating station on the Granite Canal is part of the existing Bay d’Espoir Development in south-central Newfoundland. Opened last year, the station has a capacity of 40 MW and generates 220 gigawatt hours annually. AMEC and BAE Newplan Group provided feasibility studies, engineering, project and construction management.
The plant includes a large facility for fish, which was built to compensate for the loss of habitat due to the diversion of the water flow. The facility includes 45,000 square metres of new spawning and rearing habitat for brook trout and land-locked salmon, channels totalling 3,300 metres in length and a tailrace delta.
A Kaplan turbine and 45 MVA, 13.8 kV 180 rpm generator were installed. The station is remotely controlled from the Energy Control Centre in St. John’s.
Dave Brown, P.Eng. is the project manager at AMEC.
ALCAN ISLE MALIGNE POWER STATION
Cegertec
Cegertec of Chicoutimi was prime engineering consultant for major modifications to the Isle Maligne hydroelectric powerhouse and adjacent 161 kV substation at Alcan’s $2.2-billion aluminum smelter in Alma, Quebec. The energy requirements for the smelter are huge: 900 MW.
Likened to “performing open heart surgery” the modifications included rebuilding everything inside the existing powerhouse and substation between the generators and the 161 kV grid. The powerhouse and substation were built in the 1920s.
Carried out between 1997 to 2002, the project faced several constraints due to the age and cramped quarters of the existing plant. Work included adding three 100 MVA transformers weighing 100 tonnes each and a new retaining wall of 10 metres. A tractor robot developed in conjunction with Hydro Quebec was used to install new high tension lines above live lines and over a waterway.
Denis Tremblay, ing. is the project manager with Cegertec.
TERMINAL THREE EXPANSION, PEARSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Marshall Macklin Monaghan
In addition to building a massive new Terminal 1 at Pearson International Airport, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority is expanding Terminal 3, built in the early 1990s. The project involves adding gates to one of the two piers and expanding the central processor. It will increase the terminal’s capacity to handle passengers, from 10 million to 12.5 million per year. MMM is doing design, project management and contract administration. Scott Associates are the architects.
The electrical component involves designing a normal, emergency and UPS distribution systems at 600/347 and 208/120 VAC. A diesel generator emergency power and parallel generation/uninterruptible power transfer (PG-UT) distribution system serves special systems such as baggage and passenger screening. The terminal has to be kept operational while work is completed on a fast schedule this year.
Tim Stanley, P.Eng. is the project manager with Marshall Macklin Monaghan.
