Kakabeka Generating Station Overview
The Kakabeka Generating Station (GS) is located in northwestern Ontario in the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge on the eastern bank of the Kaministiquia River, just downstream of Kakabeka Falls and approximately 29 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. The Kakabeka GS is also located within the traditional territory of Fort William First Nation, Red Sky Métis Independent Nation and the Métis Nation of Ontario (Region 2), and within the Kaministiquia River watershed.
The Kakabeka GS is a four-unit turbine-generator (T/G) hydroelectric power generating facility. At full capacity, the station produces 24.4 MW of electricity. The station is controlled remotely from the Northwest Control Centre in Thunder Bay. The Station includes the following structures:
- Powerhouse – approximately 67 m long, 16 m wide, and 9 m high, with an adjoining valve house, machine shop, and switching tower located at the south end.
- Four original penstocks – one for each turbine-generation unit composed of riveted steel plate construction operated with stoplogs by a gas-fueled log lifter on the deck.
- Surge tank – a concrete chamber located just north of the powerhouse with a timber superstructure and overflow weir.
- Subsurface aqueduct – an underground concrete pipeline, approximately 1980 m long and 5 m in internal diameter, extending from the intake to the surge tank.
- Main control dam and intake.
- Various access roads, parking areas, and ancillary buildings, as well as debris booms and public safety booms.
- The station generates clean, reliable power with enough capacity to power about 25,000 homes.
Kakabeka GS is owned and operated by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and the station is currently 117 years old, (2nd oldest station in OPG’s hydro-electric fleet across Ontario) and much of its original equipment from 1906 is still in operation. The station will reach “end of life” within the next five years according to a recent optimization study commissioned by OPG. As such, Kakabeka GS is scheduled for redevelopment. The plan is to redevelop the station, so that the Kakabeka GS can continue to reliably generate sustainable energy for OPG for the next 90 years, while also improving public safety, optimizing power generation, and more efficiently using the available river flows.
Hydroelectric Investment and Asset Optimization
The Kakabeka GS Redevelopment Project is part of OPG’s larger investment strategy which includes upgrading and optimizing many of its existing hydroelectric assets to meet emerging demand as the province continues to electrify. Redevelopment and optimization opportunities include station refurbishments to modernize facility infrastructure, improve existing generating capacity, uncover additional efficiencies, and, in some cases, redevelop an entire site.
The optimization study completed in 2021 recommended the redevelopment of the Kakabeka GS as the best option to extend the life of the station. These upgrades are anticipated to increase the station’s output by about 3 MW, or approximately a 13% increase from its current capacity. An investment of this scale will ensure Kakabeka GS will continue to generate renewable, low-carbon, and low-cost power for decades to come.
