Robert-Bourassa hydroelectric power station
| Robert-Bourassa hydroelectric power station | |||
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| location | |||
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| Coordinates | 53 ° 47 '43 " N , 77 ° 26' 26" W | ||
| country | Canada | ||
| Waters |
La Grande Rivière ( Robert-Bourassa Reservoir ) |
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| Data | |||
| Type | Storage power plant | ||
| Primary energy | Hydropower | ||
| power | 5616 MW | ||
| owner | Hydro Quebec | ||
| Project start | 1973 | ||
| Start of operations | 1979-1981 | ||
The Robert-Bourassa hydropower plant (in French, Centrale Robert-Bourassa , until 1996 La Grande-2 or LG-2 ) is a storage power plant in the Canadian province of Québec . It is located in the Jamésie region on the Robert-Bourassa Réservoir , around five kilometers from the town of Radisson . In the immediate vicinity is the La Grande-2-A hydropower plant , the dam of the reservoir at La Grande Rivière around six kilometers east of it.
Named after former Quebec Prime Minister Robert Bourassa , the power plant is the most important part of the Baie James hydropower project and has 16 Francis turbines . The installed power of the generators is 5616 MW , with a drop height of 137.16 meters. The power station is operated by Société d'énergie de la Baie James (SEBJ), a subsidiary of the state-owned energy utility Hydro-Québec .
The construction work began in 1973, the commissioning took place between 1979 and 1981. The power plant uses the hydropower of the 2835 km² large Réservoir Robert-Bourassa , which forms a network with several other reservoirs further upstream. Together with the La Grande-2-A power plant (2106 MW), Robert-Bourassa owns more than a fifth of the installed capacity of Hydro-Québec.
Construction work
In order for a power plant of this size to be built in the almost deserted area, it was necessary to build a 620 km long road leading north from Matagami . The Route de la Baie James was completed in just 420 days , the official opening took place on February 11, 1972. Only then was it possible to transport the heavy construction machinery to the intended locations. The Radisson settlement was built in 1974 to accommodate the construction workers and employees and their families, and it was developed into a regional center.
The first construction phase of the power plant included the temporary diversion of the river so that it could work on dry ground. For this purpose, two tunnels were drilled into the massive rock of the Canadian Shield on the left bank . They were completed on April 27, 1975 and were then in operation for three and a half years. The tunnels were 14.8 meters wide and 18 meters high, their lengths were 730 meters and 830 meters respectively.
In August 1973 a forest fire threatened the construction site for a week. On November 15, 1973, the Québec Supreme Court suspended construction. The 5,000 Cree living in the region feared serious consequences for their traditional way of life and had secured the support of Jean Chrétien , the Federal Minister for Indian Affairs, who had funded their appeal in court. Although the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the order, the provincial government had to negotiate with the indigenous people. This eventually led to the signing of the Baie James and North Quebec Agreement on November 11, 1975.
The construction work was overshadowed by various labor disputes. Conflicts between members of two unions culminated on March 21, 1974 in the "Saccage de la Baie James" ("Looting of the Baie James"). A union official stole a bulldozer , used it to destroy a trailer and a dormitory, disconnected the water pipes, overturned the three generators in the workers' settlement and started a fire by tipping over fuel containers. The total damage was $ 30 million. The destruction of the camp forced the SEBJ to evacuate the workers by plane within 48 hours. 70 people stayed behind to limit the damage. After 55 days, construction work was resumed on May 8, 1974. In March the provincial government set up a non-partisan commission of inquiry, which included the future Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney . The commission, which presented its final report in May 1975, uncovered close entanglements in organized crime among trade unions and construction companies.
Construction work was further interrupted in 1975 and 1976. Responsible for this were the discovery of a glacier pot on the river bank, a leak in one of the cofferdams and a prolonged workers' strike. The month-long delay was made up in the course of 1977 through the use of additional construction machinery and increased workload by the construction companies. The Quebec Prime Minister René Lévesque finally officially opened the power station on November 27, 1979 in the presence of 3,000 invited guests. On October 16, 1996, the power station was renamed in honor of the former Prime Minister Robert Bourassa , who had been instrumental in driving the hydropower projects forward and who had died two weeks earlier.
investment
The Robert Bourassa power plant is not located directly on the dam, but six kilometers west of it. With an installed capacity of 5616 megawatts , it is Canada's largest hydropower plant and currently (2012) the eighth largest hydropower plant in the world . It is also the world's largest underground power plant, only transformation and transmission structures can be found on the surface. The underground part includes service tunnels, a machine hall and a water tower . A total of 2.35 million m³ of rock had to be dredged.
The planners used a natural depression running parallel to the river to increase the drop height by an additional seven meters. The company Rousseau, Sauvé, Warren was responsible for the construction of the power station . In contrast to other power plants in the Baie James project, the Anglo-American system of measurement was used in the planning , instead of the international system of units that was only introduced in Canada in the course of the 1970s.
The underground facility can be reached via lifts or through a tunnel on the east side. The power plant has 16 Francis turbines , which are divided into two groups of eight. In between are the assembly area, workshops, the control block as well as the elevator and ventilation shafts.
See also
literature
- Société d'énergie de la Baie James (ed.): Le complexe hydroélectrique de La Grande Rivière. Realization of the première phase . Éditions de la Chenelière, Montreal 1987, ISBN 2-89310-010-4 .
- Roger Lacasse: Baie James, une épopée . Libre Expression, Montreal 1983, ISBN 2-89111-109-5 .
- Clarence Hogue, André Bolduc, Daniel Larouche: Québec, un siècle d'électricité . Libre Expression, Montreal 1979, ISBN 2-89111-022-6 .
- André Bolduc: You génie au pouvoir: Robert A. Boyd, à la gouverne d'Hydro-Québec aux années glorieuses . Libre Expression, Montreal 2000, ISBN 2-89111-829-4 .
Web links
- Hydro-Québec Visitor Information (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Centrales hydroélectriques. Hydro-Québec, accessed March 23, 2012 (French).
- ↑ Route de la Baie James. Walter Muma, accessed March 22, 2012 (French).
- ^ SEBJ: Le complexe hydroélectrique de La Grande Rivière. P. 423.
- ^ SEBJ: Le complexe hydroélectrique de La Grande Rivière. Pp. 67-68.
- ^ SEBJ: Le complexe hydroélectrique de La Grande Rivière. P. 121.
- ↑ a b SEBJ: Le complexe hydroélectrique de La Grande Rivière. P. 151.
- ^ Lacasse: Baie James, une épopée. Pp. 349-350.
- ^ Lacasse: Baie James, une épopée. Pp. 354-355.
- ^ Hogue, Bolduc, Larouche: Québec, un siècle d'électricité. P. 368.
- ^ Bolduc: You génie au pouvoir. P. 233.
- ^ Central Robert-Bourassa. Commission de toponymie du Québec, accessed March 24, 2012 (French).
- ↑ a b SEBJ: Le complexe hydroélectrique de La Grande Rivière. P. 133.
- ^ SEBJ: Le complexe hydroélectrique de La Grande Rivière. P. 117.
- ^ Bolduc: You génie au pouvoir. P. 135.