Ontario investing $1 billion into Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric generating station [Video]

Ontario has announced its plan to invest $1 billion over the next 15 years to refurbish the province’s two largest hydroelectric dams.

Ontario’s Minister of Energy, Todd Smith, unveiled the plan outside the facility early Tuesday.

“This refurbishment, effectively a major overhaul, is going to have a huge impact. With an estimated investment of $1 billion,” the minister said.

The money will go towards revamping 25 power-generating units at the complex.

The work will take 15 years to complete, as crews from Ontario Power Generation (OPG) partner with GE Vernova, General Electrics energy corporation, to disassemble the generators one at a time.

“It’s important that we keep the generation here and the system reliable,” said OPG’s Chief Operations Officer Nicolle Butcher.

“We can isolate them, we’ve done it before … we’re quite confident in our ability to take one out at a time.”

Sometimes referred to as its the crown corporations “crown jewel,” the hydroelectric dam in Niagara Falls currently generates around nine per cent of the electricity produced in Ontario.

Energy Minister Todd Smith says that following the upgrades, an annual capacity of 1,700 megawatts will be secured for years to come.