Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli, Jim Durrell, Chair of Hydro Ottawa’s Board of Directors, Hydro Ottawa’s President and CEO Bryce Conrad and other dignitaries joined media for a tour November 16 of the future site of the utility’s new 29-megawatt (MW) facility. The event marked the official announcement of construction at the historic site, scheduled to be completed in 2017.
Hydro Ottawa’s vision of the Chaudière Falls expansion project is three-fold: produce clean, renewable energy in an environmentally responsible way; be a public space to be enjoyed by all; and serve as a place of recognition and celebration of Canada’s First Nations and Ottawa’s industrialist past.
Hydro Ottawa’s existing green energy portfolio includes four hydroelectric stations at Chaudière Falls and majority shares in landfill gas-to-energy plants at the Trail Road and Laflèche Landfills, representing 39 megawatts.
Earlier this year, Hydro Ottawa (under its subsidiary, Energy Ottawa) acquired 10 run-of-the-river hydroelectric facilities from Fortis Inc. in Ontario and nearby New York State representing installed green energy capacity of 31 megawatts.
When the new Chaudière Falls facility is operational, Hydro Ottawa’s renewable energy output will total nearly 99 megawatts. See related story, “Hydro Ottawa fulfilling its vision for Chaudière Falls ” IPPSO FACTO, August 2015.