OPG completes refurbishment of historic turntable at Chats Falls GS

At a glance

• OPG's Chats Falls hydro station has been producing clean, reliable power on the Ottawa River since 1931.
• Recently, the station's original turntable was successfully refurbished to ensure continued reliable operations.
• The large, circular revolving platform is used to move key equipment in and out of the powerhouse.

The historic 93-year-old turntable at OPG's Chats Falls Generating Station (GS) is revolving smoothly once again thanks to its successful refurbishment.

The large, circular platform is used to help move key equipment, including the station's main output transformer. During maintenance activities, the turntable serves as a key access point for equipment to be worked on in the nearby powerhouse or shipped elsewhere.

After reliably serving the eastern Ontario hydro station for decades, the turntable was due for an upgrade as the platform's supporting concrete, its main centre bearing, and crane rails used to guide the mechanism were all in degraded condition.

Work to refurbish this important piece of equipment began last year as the old turntable was lifted out and successfully wrapped up this spring.

The project, completed entirely by OPG employees, included concrete repairs to the turntable's support structure, replacement of the main centre bearing, and replacement of the crane rails.

In addition, epoxy paint was applied to the steel turntable and to its refurbished concrete base to reduce damage from road salt in the future.

"This project was a complete success. In the end, our team helped secure significant cost savings to deliver operational excellence for OPG and for Ontario," said Chris Hamel, Sr. Manager of Maintenace/Production for OPG's Lower Ottawa stations. "With the refurbished turntable now in service, we have restored an important piece of equipment that will ensure the safe, reliable operation and support ongoing maintenance of Chats Falls GS."

Jointly owned by OPG and Hydro-Québec, the eight-unit, 192-megawatt Chats Falls GS is located 60 km west of Ottawa near the Ontario-Québec border and sends power to both provinces.

As a shared station, revenues and costs are shared by both power companies, with each owning four of the plant's units, while OPG operates the entire facility.

It's a unique partnership that began back in 1928, when OPG's predecessor, the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, struck a deal with the Chats Falls Power Company, later absorbed by Hydro-Québec, on the development and operation of a powerhouse on the Ottawa River.

To take a virtual tour of Chats Falls GS, click here.