Churchill Falls Generating Station

Churchill Falls Generating Station
Churchill Falls Generating Station is located in Newfoundland and Labrador
Churchill Falls Generating Station
Location of Churchill Falls Generating Station in Newfoundland and Labrador
LocationNewfoundland and Labrador,
Canada
Coordinates53°31′43.45″N 63°57′57.15″W / 53.5287361°N 63.9658750°W / 53.5287361; -63.9658750
Construction began1967
Opening date1974
Construction cost946 million CAD
Owner(s)CF(L)Co
Dam and spillways
Type of dam88 rock-filled dikes
ImpoundsChurchill River
Length64 km (40 mi)
Dam volume2,200,000 m3 (2,900,000 cu yd)
Reservoir
CreatesSmallwood Reservoir
Ossokmanuan Reservoir
Total capacity32.64 km3 (1.153×1012 cu ft)
Catchment area71,750 km2 (27,700 sq mi)
Surface area6,988 km2 (2,698 sq mi)
Power Station
Operator(s)CF(L)Co
Commission date1971-74
Hydraulic head312.4 m (1,025 ft)
Turbines11
Installed capacity5,428 MW
Capacity factor73.6%
Annual generation35,000 GWh (130,000 TJ)
Website
nalcorenergy.com/nalcor-operations/churchill-falls/

The Churchill Falls Generating Station is a hydroelectric underground power station in Labrador. At 5,428 MW, it is the sixteenth largest in the world, and the second-largest in Canada, after the Robert-Bourassa generating station in northwestern Quebec.

Rather than a single large dam, the plant's reservoir is contained by 88 dykes, totalling 64 km in length. The Smallwood Reservoir has a capacity of 33 cubic kilometres in a catchment area of about 72,000 square kilometres, an area larger than the Republic of Ireland. It drops over 305 metres to the site of the plant's 11 turbines.

The plant's power house was hewn from solid granite 300 metres underground. It is about 300 metres long and as high as a 15-story building.[1]

The station cost almost a billion Canadian dollars to build in 1970. Commissioned from 1971 to 1974, it is owned and operated by the Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation Limited, a joint venture between Nalcor Energy (65.8%) and Hydro-Québec (34.2%). Workers at the station live in the purpose-built company town of Churchill Falls.

The ongoing Lower Churchill Project is a joint venture between Nalcor and Emera[2] to develop the remaining 35 percent of the Churchill River basin.[3][4][5]

  1. ^ "Top 10 hydroelectric dams in Canada". Canadian Mining & Energy. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  2. ^ McCarthy, Shawn (18 November 2010). "Churchill hydro deal signals era of Atlantic co-operation – The Globe and Mail". The Globe and Mail. Toronto.
  3. ^ "Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Announces Sanction of the Muskrat Falls Development". Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. December 17, 2012. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  4. ^ "$1.5B Maritime Link approved by Emera Inc". CBC News. Dec 18, 2012. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.
  5. ^ "Maritime Link energy project approved by Nova Scotia's UARB". CBC News. Nov 29, 2013. Retrieved Nov 29, 2020.