Churchill Falls Generating Station
Encyclopedia
The Churchill Falls Generating Station is a hydroelectric power station located on the Churchill River
in Newfoundland and Labrador
. The underground power station can generate 5,428 MW, which makes it the second-largest in Canada
, after the Robert-Bourassa generating station
. The generating station was commissioned between 1971 and 1974. The facility is owned and operated by the Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation Limited
(CFLCo), a joint venture
between Nalcor Energy
(65.8%) and Hydro-Québec
(34.2%).
were early travellers to the site. To them, it was known as Patses-che-wan, "the narrow pass where the waters drop".
In 1915, the Quebec Streams Commission sent engineer Wilfred Thibaudeau survey the Labrador Plateau, then a part of Quebec. Thibodeau was impressed by the site and engineered a channel scheme which could be used to divert the water from the river before it arrived at the falls. The scheme would use the natural capacity of the basin
, thereby eliminating the need for the construction of massive dam
s.
Newfoundland obtained jurisdiction over Labrador
in a 1927 ruling of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
. In 1947, Commander G.H. Desbarats, under the direction of the Newfoundland
Government, completed a preliminary survey that confirmed Thibaudeau's findings. However, development did not proceed due to the inhospitable terrain, the severe climatic conditions, the geographic remoteness, the long distance transmission requirement and the lack of markets for such a large block of power.
, Premier of Newfoundland
, had the opportunity to see Churchill Falls for the first time and it became his obsession to develop the hydroelectric potential of the falls.
Smallwood, who was well known in the British capital, travelled to London
in the fall of 1952 to promote investment in Canada's newest province. His pitch was well received by the British Prime Minister
, Winston Churchill
, who later introduces Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
, of the N M Rothschild & Sons
investment bank.
In 1953 British Newfoundland Development Corporation
(Brinco) was formed by the Rothschilds and six partners: two paper companies: Bowater
and Anglo-Newfoundland; a manufacturer, English Electric
; and mining concerns Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Frobisher. The new company aimed to do extensive exploration of the untapped water and mineral resources of the area. With the development of the iron ore mines in western Labrador and Schefferville
and the construction of the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway
in 1954, development of Hamilton Falls — as they were then known — as a power source, became feasible.
Brinco's efforts were facilitated by a Principal Agreement signed with the Newfoundland government granting it the right to explore the province's natural resource potential. In return, Brinco committed to invest $5 million over 20 years on exploration and to pay an 8% royalty on net profits before taxes.
Maurice Duplessis
and to government-owned utility
Hydro-Québec
. Brinco's offers were summarily dismissed by the Union Nationale premier, who had already committed towards Hydro-Québec building its own power projects in Quebec, such as the Bersimis-1
and Bersimis-2
generating stations, rather than importing electricity.
SWP was an early supporter of the project. As early as 1954, the company's planners did consulting work on the project for Brinco. But SWP had other reasons. Facing a rapidly increasing demand, and having been denied the possibility of developing the Bersimis River
in 1951, its officials were eager to find new energy resources to meet rapidly increasing demand. This is why Shawinigan Engineering, a subsidiary of SWP, agreed to become a partner in the entreprise. In 1958, SWP was granted a 20% share of the venture, called Hamilton Falls Power Corporation, for a C$ 2.25 million investment.
As was the long-standing practice in Quebec's power generation business, Brinco tried to recruit "anchor" customers for the large amount of power they would add to supply. Its officials made pitches to large industrial power users, but aluminium
companies Alcan
, Alcoa
and British Aluminium
all rejected the possibility of building smelter
s in Labrador. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
decided against building an uranium enrichment
plant in the area.
The second solution was selling the power to other jurisdictions. But, exporting power to Ontario
and the Northeastern United States
also had its set of problems. Ontario Hydro
felt that generating electricity in-province using nuclear power
would be cheaper than building costly long-distance transmission lines from Labrador to Ontario through Quebec. Brinco and its power subsidiary were also wary of the political implications such a line would have in Quebec. On top of all these problems, selling the power in the U.S. was complicated by the National Energy Board
stance against long-term power export contracts
, in the fall of 1959. However, the talks stalled as Sauvé died early in 1960.
The government of Quebec considered the inland watershed of Labrador to be part of their province and fought a long but losing legal battle to prevent granting the territory to Newfoundland at the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
building, its length is three times that of a Canadian football
field. When completed, it housed 11 generating units, with a combined capacity of 5428 MW. Water is contained by a reservoir created not by a single large dam, but by a series of 88 dikes that total64 km (39.8 mi) in length. At the time, the project was the largest civil engineering
project ever undertaken in North America.
Once all the dikes were in place, it provided a vast storage area which later became known as Smallwood Reservoir
. This reservoir covers 2200 sq mi (5,698 km²) and provides storage area for more than 1000000000000 cu ft (28,316,847,000 m³) of water.
The drainage area for the Churchill River includes much of western and central Labrador. Ossokmanuan Reservoir which was originally developed as part of the Twin Falls Power System also drains into this system. Churchill River's natural drainage area covers over23300 sq mi (60,346.7 km²). Once Orma and Sail lakes' outlets were diked, it added another 4400 sq mi (11,395.9 km²) of drainage for a total of 27700 sq mi (71,742.7 km²). This makes the drainage area larger than the Republic of Ireland
. Studies showed this drainage area collected410 mm (16.1 in) of rainfall plus 391 cm (153.9 in) of snowfall annually equalling 12.5 cu mi (52.1 km³) of water per year; more than enough to meet the project's needs. Construction came to fruition on December 6, 1971, when Churchill Falls went into full-time production.
The generating station is owned by the Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Ltd. — whose shareholders are Nalcor
(65.8%) and Hydro-Québec
(34.2%) — and operated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
company.
"an immense and unconscionable windfall."
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has twice challenged the contract in court, with both challenges failing. Additionally, in 1984 the Supreme Court of Canada
ruled that a proposal by Newfoundland to divert water away from the falls was illegal.
According to former Premier Brian Tobin, as Labrador only borders Québec, when an agreement was being negotiated to sell the power generated at Churchill Falls, the power either had to be sold to an entity within Québec or it had to pass through Québec. The government of Québec refused to allow power to be transferred through Québec and would only accept a contract in which the power was sold to Québec. Because of this monopsony
situation, Hydro-Québec received very favourable terms on the power sale contract. The contract was negotiated to run for a 65-year timespan, running until the year 2041, and according to former Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams
, Hydro-Québec reaps profits from the Upper Churchill contract of approximately $1.7 billion per year, while Newfoundland and Labrador receives $63 million a year.
According to long-time Hydro-Québec
critic Claude Garcia, former president of Standard Life (Canada)
and author of a recent assessment of the utility commissioned by the Montreal Economic Institute
, if Hydro-Quebec had to pay market prices for the low-cost power it got from the Churchill Falls project in Labrador, the 2007 profit would be an estimated 75 per cent lower. Newfoundland and Labrador will get back all the rights to the project in 2041 when the contract expires.
Innu
people of Labrador. The construction involved the flooding of over 5000 km² (1,930.5 sq mi) of traditional hunting and trapping lands. A recent agreement signed between the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Innu offered the Labrador Innu hunting rights within 34,000 square kilometres of land, plus $2 million annually in compensation for flooding.
Churchill River (Atlantic)
The Churchill River is a river in Newfoundland and Labrador which flows east from the Smallwood Reservoir in Labrador into the Atlantic Ocean via Lake Melville. The river is long and drains an area of ; it is the longest river in the province...
in Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. The underground power station can generate 5,428 MW, which makes it the second-largest in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, after the Robert-Bourassa generating station
Robert-Bourassa generating station
The Robert-Bourassa generating station is a hydroelectric power station on the La Grande River that is part of Hydro-Québec's James Bay Project in Canada...
. The generating station was commissioned between 1971 and 1974. The facility is owned and operated by the Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation Limited
Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation Limited
The Churchill Falls Corporation, also known as CFCo or CFLco is a Canadian electric company. The company was founded in 1961 and is based in St. John's, Newfoundland...
(CFLCo), a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between Nalcor Energy
Nalcor Energy
Nalcor Energy is a provincial energy corporation which is headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. A provincial Crown corporation under the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Nalcor Energy was created in 2007 to manage the provinces energy resources...
(65.8%) and Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
(34.2%).
Geography
The InnuInnu
The Innu are the indigenous inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , which comprises most of the northeastern portions of the provinces of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador...
were early travellers to the site. To them, it was known as Patses-che-wan, "the narrow pass where the waters drop".
In 1915, the Quebec Streams Commission sent engineer Wilfred Thibaudeau survey the Labrador Plateau, then a part of Quebec. Thibodeau was impressed by the site and engineered a channel scheme which could be used to divert the water from the river before it arrived at the falls. The scheme would use the natural capacity of the basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
, thereby eliminating the need for the construction of massive dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
s.
Newfoundland obtained jurisdiction over Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
in a 1927 ruling of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
. In 1947, Commander G.H. Desbarats, under the direction of the Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
Government, completed a preliminary survey that confirmed Thibaudeau's findings. However, development did not proceed due to the inhospitable terrain, the severe climatic conditions, the geographic remoteness, the long distance transmission requirement and the lack of markets for such a large block of power.
Early planning
In August, 1949, Joey SmallwoodJoey Smallwood
Joseph Roberts "Joey" Smallwood, PC, CC was the main force that brought Newfoundland into the Canadian confederation, and became the first Premier of Newfoundland . As premier, he vigorously promoted economic development, championed the welfare state, and emphasized modernization of education and...
, Premier of Newfoundland
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
The Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is the first minister, head of government and de facto chief executive for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Before 1964, the position's official title was Premier of Newfoundland...
, had the opportunity to see Churchill Falls for the first time and it became his obsession to develop the hydroelectric potential of the falls.
Smallwood, who was well known in the British capital, travelled to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in the fall of 1952 to promote investment in Canada's newest province. His pitch was well received by the British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, who later introduces Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
Edmund Leopold de Rothschild, CBE, TD was an English financier, a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England, and a recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour , given by the Royal Horticultural Society....
, of the N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family...
investment bank.
In 1953 British Newfoundland Development Corporation
British Newfoundland Development Corporation
The British Newfoundland Development Corporation, or BRINCO was incorporated by a consortium of British companies in 1953 which undertook industrial development opportunities in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador...
(Brinco) was formed by the Rothschilds and six partners: two paper companies: Bowater
Bowater
Bowater was an American pulp and paper company based in Greenville, South Carolina. Bowater had 12 pulp and paper mills in the United States, Canada and South Korea and 13 North American sawmills. It had approximately 10,000 employees...
and Anglo-Newfoundland; a manufacturer, English Electric
English Electric
English Electric was a British industrial manufacturer. Founded in 1918, it initially specialised in industrial electric motors and transformers...
; and mining concerns Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Frobisher. The new company aimed to do extensive exploration of the untapped water and mineral resources of the area. With the development of the iron ore mines in western Labrador and Schefferville
Schefferville, Quebec
Schefferville is a town in the Canadian province of Quebec. Schefferville is in the heart of the Naskapi and Innu territory in northern Quebec, less than 2 km from the border with Labrador on the north shore of Knob Lake. The town has an incorporated area of . It is located within the...
and the construction of the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway
Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway
The Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway is a Canadian regional railway that stretches through the wilderness of northeastern Quebec and western Labrador. It connects Labrador City, Labrador, with the port of Sept-Îles, Quebec, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River...
in 1954, development of Hamilton Falls — as they were then known — as a power source, became feasible.
Brinco's efforts were facilitated by a Principal Agreement signed with the Newfoundland government granting it the right to explore the province's natural resource potential. In return, Brinco committed to invest $5 million over 20 years on exploration and to pay an 8% royalty on net profits before taxes.
Recruiting investors and customers
Among the issues facing the would-be developers in the 1950s, the recruitment of customers for the output of the plant was high on the list of concerns. A few options were considered by Brinco officials. As early as 1955, Brinco's CEO, Bill Southam calls on Robert J. Beaumont, president of the Shawinigan Water & Power Company (SWP), Quebec's largest power company at the time, to push the project to PremierPremier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
and to government-owned utility
Public utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
. Brinco's offers were summarily dismissed by the Union Nationale premier, who had already committed towards Hydro-Québec building its own power projects in Quebec, such as the Bersimis-1
Bersimis-1 generating station
The Bersimis-1 generating station is a dam and a hydroelectric power station built by Hydro-Québec on the Betsiamites River, in Lac-au-Brochet, north of the town of Forestville, Quebec...
and Bersimis-2
Bersimis-2 generating station
The Bersimis-2 generating station is a dam and a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station built by Hydro-Québec on the Betsiamites River, in Lac-au-Brochet, north of the town of Forestville, Quebec...
generating stations, rather than importing electricity.
SWP was an early supporter of the project. As early as 1954, the company's planners did consulting work on the project for Brinco. But SWP had other reasons. Facing a rapidly increasing demand, and having been denied the possibility of developing the Bersimis River
Betsiamites River
The Betsiamites is a river of Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada, which joins the Saint Lawrence River.The Pipmuacan Reservoir, impounded by the Bersimis-1 Dam, is roughly halfway down its course.-Hydro-electric facilities:...
in 1951, its officials were eager to find new energy resources to meet rapidly increasing demand. This is why Shawinigan Engineering, a subsidiary of SWP, agreed to become a partner in the entreprise. In 1958, SWP was granted a 20% share of the venture, called Hamilton Falls Power Corporation, for a C$ 2.25 million investment.
As was the long-standing practice in Quebec's power generation business, Brinco tried to recruit "anchor" customers for the large amount of power they would add to supply. Its officials made pitches to large industrial power users, but aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
companies Alcan
Alcan
Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal. It was created on November 15, 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto PLC's Canadian subsidiary, Rio Tinto Canada Holding Inc., and Canadian company Alcan Inc. On the same date, Alcan Inc. was renamed Rio Tinto Alcan Inc..Rio...
, Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
and British Aluminium
British Aluminium
The aluminium producer British Aluminium Ltd was originally formed as the British Aluminium Company Ltd on 7 May 1894 and was subsequently known as British Alcan Aluminium Plc...
all rejected the possibility of building smelter
Aluminium smelting
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore Bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery....
s in Labrador. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of nuclear fusion power. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and was formerly chaired by Lady Barbara Judge CBE...
decided against building an uranium enrichment
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
plant in the area.
The second solution was selling the power to other jurisdictions. But, exporting power to Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and the Northeastern United States
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
also had its set of problems. Ontario Hydro
Ontario Hydro
Ontario Hydro was the official name from 1974 of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara...
felt that generating electricity in-province using nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
would be cheaper than building costly long-distance transmission lines from Labrador to Ontario through Quebec. Brinco and its power subsidiary were also wary of the political implications such a line would have in Quebec. On top of all these problems, selling the power in the U.S. was complicated by the National Energy Board
National Energy Board
The National Energy Board is an independent economic regulatory agency created in 1959 by the Government of Canada to oversee "international and inter-provincial aspects of the oil, gas and electric utility industries"...
stance against long-term power export contracts
Contract talks
The death of Maurice Duplessis, in September 1959, raised hopes of a change of attitude in Quebec. Brinco's representatives met with the new Quebec premier, Paul SauvéPaul Sauvé
Joseph-Mignault-Paul Sauvé was a Quebec lawyer, World War II veteran and politician. He was the first Quebec Premier to be born in the 20th century.-Life:...
, in the fall of 1959. However, the talks stalled as Sauvé died early in 1960.
The government of Quebec considered the inland watershed of Labrador to be part of their province and fought a long but losing legal battle to prevent granting the territory to Newfoundland at the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Construction
After years of planning, the project was officially started on July 17, 1967. The machine hall of the power facility at Churchill Falls was hollowed out of solid rock, close to 1000 ft (304.8 m) underground. Its final proportions are huge: in height it equals a 15-storeyStorey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
building, its length is three times that of a Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
field. When completed, it housed 11 generating units, with a combined capacity of 5428 MW. Water is contained by a reservoir created not by a single large dam, but by a series of 88 dikes that total64 km (39.8 mi) in length. At the time, the project was the largest civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
project ever undertaken in North America.
Once all the dikes were in place, it provided a vast storage area which later became known as Smallwood Reservoir
Smallwood Reservoir
The Smallwood Reservoir is a large reservoir located in the western part of Labrador in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The reservoir is the source of the Churchill River. Unlike other reservoirs, water is contained not by a single large dam, but by a series of 88 dikes that...
. This reservoir covers 2200 sq mi (5,698 km²) and provides storage area for more than 1000000000000 cu ft (28,316,847,000 m³) of water.
The drainage area for the Churchill River includes much of western and central Labrador. Ossokmanuan Reservoir which was originally developed as part of the Twin Falls Power System also drains into this system. Churchill River's natural drainage area covers over23300 sq mi (60,346.7 km²). Once Orma and Sail lakes' outlets were diked, it added another 4400 sq mi (11,395.9 km²) of drainage for a total of 27700 sq mi (71,742.7 km²). This makes the drainage area larger than the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. Studies showed this drainage area collected410 mm (16.1 in) of rainfall plus 391 cm (153.9 in) of snowfall annually equalling 12.5 cu mi (52.1 km³) of water per year; more than enough to meet the project's needs. Construction came to fruition on December 6, 1971, when Churchill Falls went into full-time production.
The generating station is owned by the Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation Ltd. — whose shareholders are Nalcor
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, and the north-eastern areas of the United States. It also delivers voice and data services to customers in some areas...
(65.8%) and Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
(34.2%) — and operated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, and the north-eastern areas of the United States. It also delivers voice and data services to customers in some areas...
company.
Legal challenge and controversy
The division of profits from the sale of electricity generated at the plant has proven to be a very sensitive political issue in Newfoundland and Labrador, with many considering the share accorded to Hydro-QuébecHydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
"an immense and unconscionable windfall."
The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has twice challenged the contract in court, with both challenges failing. Additionally, in 1984 the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
ruled that a proposal by Newfoundland to divert water away from the falls was illegal.
According to former Premier Brian Tobin, as Labrador only borders Québec, when an agreement was being negotiated to sell the power generated at Churchill Falls, the power either had to be sold to an entity within Québec or it had to pass through Québec. The government of Québec refused to allow power to be transferred through Québec and would only accept a contract in which the power was sold to Québec. Because of this monopsony
Monopsony
In economics, a monopsony is a market form in which only one buyer faces many sellers. It is an example of imperfect competition, similar to a monopoly, in which only one seller faces many buyers...
situation, Hydro-Québec received very favourable terms on the power sale contract. The contract was negotiated to run for a 65-year timespan, running until the year 2041, and according to former Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams
Danny Williams (politician)
Daniel E. "Danny" Williams, QC, MHA is a Canadian politician, businessman and lawyer who served as the ninth Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador between November 6, 2003, and December 3, 2010. Williams was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador...
, Hydro-Québec reaps profits from the Upper Churchill contract of approximately $1.7 billion per year, while Newfoundland and Labrador receives $63 million a year.
According to long-time Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. Based in Montreal, the company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec....
critic Claude Garcia, former president of Standard Life (Canada)
Standard Life (Canada)
The Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada is a major investment, retirement and financial protection company and is part of the Standard Life Group that is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. Standard Life has been a prominent player in the Canadian marketplace since 1833.The company...
and author of a recent assessment of the utility commissioned by the Montreal Economic Institute
Montreal Economic Institute
The Montreal Economic Institute is a non-profit research organization based in Montreal. It aims at promoting economic education of the general public and efficient public policies in Quebec and Canada through studies and conferences. Its research areas include different topics such as health...
, if Hydro-Quebec had to pay market prices for the low-cost power it got from the Churchill Falls project in Labrador, the 2007 profit would be an estimated 75 per cent lower. Newfoundland and Labrador will get back all the rights to the project in 2041 when the contract expires.
Aboriginal rights
The Churchill Falls hydroelectric plant development was undertaken in the absence of any agreement with the aboriginalAboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
Innu
Innu
The Innu are the indigenous inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan , which comprises most of the northeastern portions of the provinces of Quebec and some western portions of Labrador...
people of Labrador. The construction involved the flooding of over 5000 km² (1,930.5 sq mi) of traditional hunting and trapping lands. A recent agreement signed between the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Innu offered the Labrador Innu hunting rights within 34,000 square kilometres of land, plus $2 million annually in compensation for flooding.
Project facts
- Churchill Falls power plant is the second largest hydroelectric plant in North America, with an installed capacity of 5428 MW.
- Churchill Falls was, at the time of its construction, the largest underground power station in the world. (The Robert-Bourassa power station in Quebec currently holds the record, both for installed capacity and volume of the main underground hall).
- The powerhouse is 972 ft (296.3 m) long, up to 81 ft (24.7 m) wide and 154 ft (46.9 m) high from the bottom to the top. The height would be equivalent to a 15-storey building or almost as long as three Canadian football fields 990 ft (301.8 m) and is hollowed from solid graniteGraniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. To strengthen walls and ceiling, more than 11,000 rock boltRock boltA rock bolt is a long anchor bolt, for stabilizing rock excavations, which may be tunnels or rock cuts. It transfers load from the unstable exterior, to the confined interior of the rock mass....
s (steel rods 15 footlong) were used in the three major chambers. - To move the 2300000 cu yd (1,758,476.2 m³) of rock that was excavated from the underground caverns, it required 5000000 lb (2,267,961.9 kg). This material was used in roads, building the town site, and as dike material.
- The turbineTurbineA turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
wheels are cast of stainless steelStainless steelIn metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
and weigh 80 ST (71.4 LT) which is a world record for the largest stainless steel casting ever made. - During construction, 730000 ST (651,783.7 LT) of material, equipment and fuel were moved to the site.
- The natural catchment area for the Churchill River covers over 23300 sq mi (60,346.7 km²).
- By diverting the water from the Ossokmanuan Reservoir the total catchment area became 27700 sq mi (71,742.7 km²).
- Total natural drop of the water starting at Ashuanipi Lake and ending at Lake MelvilleLake MelvilleLake Melville is a saltwater tidal extension of Hamilton Inlet on the Labrador coast in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Comprising 3,069 square kilometres, and stretching 140 kilometres inland to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, it forms part of the largest estuary in the province,...
is 1735 ft (528.8 m). As a comparison, the water starting 30 km (18.6 mi) upriver until it enters the power plant drops over 1000 ft (304.8 m). - There is no big dam associated with this hydropower plant. There are 88 dikes to contain the reservoir, the longest is 6.1 km (3.8 mi)and the highest is 36 m (118.1 ft). The total length of all dikes is 64 km (39.8 mi) and contains 26000000 cu yd (19,878,426.3 m³) of embankment material.
- After five years of non-stop field work by approximately 6,300 workers and costing $950,000,000 (1970) construction culminated on December 6, 1971 when the first two generating units began delivering power, five months and three weeks ahead of schedule.
- Currently Churchill Falls makes almost 1% of the world's hydroelectric power.
- Newfoundland and Labrador recently announced a call to develop the Lower Churchill Project. This is, in fact, a number of small projects which includes a 2000 MW dam at Gull Island, an 824 MW dam at Muskrat FallsMuskrat FallsMuskrat Falls is a natural 15 metre waterfall located on the lower Churchill River about 25 kilometers west of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador....
, 1000 MWupgrade to the existing facility at the Churchill Falls power plant. This would increase the present power production capability by an extra4000 MW for a total of 9252 MW for the entire Churchill River hydroelectric complex.
Power station
| Churchill Falls generating station | |
|---|---|
| Year commissioned: | 1971 |
| Installed capacity: | 5428 MW |
| Annual energy output: | 35000 GWh |
| Number of turbines Water turbine A water turbine is a rotary engine that takes energy from moving water.Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now they are mostly used for electric power generation. They harness a clean and renewable energy... : |
11 |
| Turbine capacity: | 493.5 MW |
| Type of turbine: | vertical Francis Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts.... type, 200 rpm |
| Generators: | 15 kV Volt The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the... , 526,315 kV·A |
| Transformers: | 14.75 kV/240 kV, rated at 5,500 MV·A |
| Net rated head: | 312.4 m (1,024.9 ft) |
| Maximum tailrace discharge: | 49,000 ft³/s (1,390 m³/s) |
| Powerhouse: | 296 m (971.1 ft) length, 25 m (82 ft) width, 47 m (154.2 ft) height, 310 m (1,017.1 ft) below ground |
| Tailrace tunnels: | 2 × 1691 m (5,547.9 ft), 14 m (45.9 ft) width, 19 m (62.3 ft) height |
| Penstocks: | 11 × 427 m (1,400.9 ft) length, 20 ft (6.1 m) diameter |
| Cable shafts: | 06 × 7 ft (2.13 m) diameter, 263 m (862.9 ft) deep |
| Dikes: | 88; 64.4 km (40 mi) total length, 9 m (29.5 ft) average height, 36 m (118.1 ft) maximum height |
| Size of reservoir: | 6988 km² (2,698.1 sq mi) |
| Total catchment area: | 71700 km² (27,683.5 sq mi) |
See also
- Lower Churchill ProjectLower Churchill ProjectThe Lower Churchill Project is a planned hydroelectric project in Labrador, Canada, to develop the remaining 35 per cent of the Churchill River that has not already been developed by the Churchill Falls Generating Station...
- Newfoundland-Labrador fixed linkNewfoundland-Labrador fixed linkThe Newfoundland-Labrador fixed link refers to various proposals for constructing a fixed link consisting of bridges, tunnels, and/or causeways across the Strait of Belle Isle, connecting the province of Newfoundland and Labrador's mainland Labrador region with the island of Newfoundland...
- Re Upper Churchill Water Rights Reversion ActRe Upper Churchill Water Rights Reversion ActReference Re Upper Churchill Water Rights Reversion Act [1984] 1 S.C.R. 297 is a famous constitutional reference question put the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court found that legislation passed by the government of Newfoundland to take back water rights contracted out to the province of Quebec was...
