Travers Solar Project

The Travers Solar Project is the largest solar energy project in Canadian history. Located on approximately 3,300 acres of land eight, kilometers southwest of the village of Lomond in Vulcan County, the project will include the installation of around 1.3 million solar photovoltaic modules and 153 inverter/transformer stations. At 465 MW, the project will generate enough power to supply more than 150,000 homes. Construction of the Travers Solar Project began in 2021 and the project continues to engage with landowners, the community, and regulators, and has initiated a $100,000 Community Fund.

Rapide-Blanc Generating Station Refurbishment Project

The Rapide-Blanc generation station is located on the Saint-Maurice River, 66 km north of La Tuque, Québec. The station’s initial construction began in 1930 and was completed in 1934. The project will replace all 6 units installed. Four of the existing turbines were installed in 1934, which means that by the time the project is complete those units will have been in service for 90 years. The contract for the new units calls for a complete replacement of removable turbine and generator parts, the refurbishment of all embedded components and installation of digitally controlled governor units. The new units will also be more efficient and allow production of approximately 10 per cent more energy with the same amount of water. The components will be designed to last at least 70 years. The site work and assembly will begin in 2021 and the contract is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. In July, 2021, upstream of Rapide-Blanc generating station, cofferdams were installed in front of the intake gates of generating unit 6 to hold the water back and serve to isolate and dry out the work area.

Gordon M. Shrum Generating Station Refurbishment

The G.M. Shrum Generating Station, located at the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, provides about 24 per cent of BC Hydro’s hydroelectric power. Currently, there are several capital projects underway at this generating station and dam to replace the station’s 50-year-old equipment. The largest, in terms of budget, was the replacement of five turbines and this project was completed in fall 2015. In 2018, work began to install new exciter transformers on units one through five.
The Generators 1-10 Control System Upgrade is well underway with all major contracts awarded and 9 of 10 units completed. Work on the spillway upgrades will be completed by early fall 2021 and the spillway gate project by 2022 including the replacement of the reservoir boom near the spillway. The boom is in design with fabrication and installation planned for 2022. Stoplog replacement is at the fabrication stage and installation is anticipated in 2023. Finally, 4 out of 10 of the 500 kV disconnect switches have been replaced with a target for full project completion in summer 2022.