Toronto: Toronto Hydro announced completion June 25 of the crucial tunnel for the Clare R. Copeland Transformer Station. Located in downtown Toronto, this will be the first new transformer station built in Toronto since the 1950s. The tunnel, connecting the new station to Hydro One, required a complicated excavation project resembling a mining operation.
Invisible from street level, the tunnel runs underground from Bremner Boulevard and Rees Street to Front and Simcoe Streets. When construction is complete, electricity will flow through large cables in the tunnel to supply the station, while pedestrians walk on the streets above, oblivious of the power below their feet.
Copeland Station represents an important piece of Toronto’s infrastructure and a smart investment in the grid, the utility says. Once finished, it will provide additional power to the downtown core - which is growing at an unprecedented rate - as well as help improve reliability and protection against power outages.
Construction on Copeland Station is ongoing and is expected to be completed in 2016. This innovative project is only the second underground station to be built in Canada and has been uniquely designed to preserve public green space beside the Roundhouse, a historical building.
See also the feature story, " Toronto’s unique energy challenge."