Peterborough’s Stanley Adamson Powerhouse, a hydroelectric project developed by Trent Energy, a subsidiary of Peterborough Utilities Inc., together with Trent University, held a reopening ceremony June 17. The facility has been in operation since 1921. The redevelopment and expansion project was made possible by the Ontario Power Authority’s Hydroelectric Contract Initiative (HCI), a program to negotiate new contracts for qualified existing Ontario hydroelectric generation facilities, as part of the province’s commitment to increase its supply of clean, renewable generation.
Located on the Otonabee River, the Stanley Adamson Powerhouse was contracted under the HCI program in June 2010, which gave the developer the certainty to make investments in the facility, increasing its capacity from 1.6 megawatts to approximately 3.9 MW. The redevelopment project included the replacement of the original generating equipment (circa 1890 and 1920), a restored historic powerhouse to accommodate the updated equipment, and the replacement of the mechanical and electrical station services.
To date, there have been three other successful redevelopment and expansion projects completed under the HCI program: Bracebridge Falls Generating Station, Wilson’s Falls Generating Station and Casselman Generating Station. Combined, these projects represent approximately 9.8 MWs.
As of the end of Q1 2013, the OPA holds 47 HCI contracts with hydroelectric projects across the province, representing 1,088 MW of renewable energy.