OPG’s Silver Falls hydro station now producing more clean power after overhaul

At a glance

• Silver Falls GS recently completed a multi-year overhaul on its single unit.
• With upgrades, the station's output has increased by more than seven megawatts.
• More baseload power to meet Ontario's growing needs for decades to come.

In northwestern Ontario, near Thunder Bay, OPG's Silver Falls Generating Station (GS) is now producing more clean power from the Kaministiquia River with the completion of a multi-year overhaul.

Last November, the 63-year-old station's single unit was brought back into service after the facility underwent a series of improvements that began in 2018. These included upgrading the station's generator and electrical protection systems, rewinding and replacing the core of the unit's stator, and installing a new runner.

The station's brand-new runner, the blades that turn the turbine, is designed to make more efficient use of the water passing through the station, resulting in more power. With the new runner and other upgrades, Silver Falls' output has increased to more than 55 megawatts (MW) from its previous 48 MW, enough to power about 40,000 homes.

This represents a substantial increase in clean power, which will help OPG meet Ontario's growing demand for electricity and support electrification in the decades ahead.

The Silver Falls overhaul took a team effort to complete, involving dozens of OPG employees and touching on almost every department in the company, from engineering to site support staff to maintenance.

"The largest piece of this project was completing the rewind and core replacement on the stator," said Thomas Klemens, Project Leader with OPG's Northwest Operations. The stator - a ring-shaped component comprising hundreds of copper coils - is integral to converting the rotating magnetic field in a generator into electric current.

With the overhaul completed, Silver Falls' refurbished unit should last another 20 to 30 years before needing to be serviced again, said Klemens. The station's last overhaul took place in the mid-1980s.

This is just one of many overhauls and maintenance projects now happening across OPG's hydroelectric fleet in Ontario. The significant investment is helping ensure the company's hydro stations can operate reliably and optimally to support Ontario's growing economy and electrification needs.

Did you know?

As one of two plants located on the Kaministiquia River (the other being Kakabeka Falls GS), Silver Falls is among a select few single-unit hydro stations in OPG's fleet. The others include Big Chute GS, Elliot Chute GS, Hannah Chute GS, Lac Seul GS, Lakefield GS, Sandy Falls GS, and Trethewey Falls GS.

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