The Bay D'Espoir Hydroelectric Development, built by the

Newfoundland and Labrador Power Commission Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (NL Hydro), commonly known as Hydro, is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as portions of Quebec and the north-eastern areas of the United ...

is located on the south coast of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

near the rural community of

Bay d'Espoir Bay d'Espoir ( ) is an arm of Hermitage Bay in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, located on the south coast of Newfoundland. Communities in Bay d'Espoir include: Milltown-Head of Bay d'Espoir, Morrisville, St. Alban's, St. Joseph's Cove, St. Veron ...

. It was the second major

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

project undertaken on

History

The hydroelectric potential of this area was known by the early 1920s but its development was not seriously considered until 1954 when

British Newfoundland Development Corporation {{Infobox company , name = BRINCO , logo = , logo_size = , image = , image_caption = , trading_name = British Newfoundland Development Corporation , native_name = , native_name_lang = ...

(BRINCO) became interested in the site. In 1957 a

Shawinigan Engineering Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and ...

survey confirmed the feasibility of building a hydroelectric plant. By 1959 BRINCO had set up a subsidiary, Southern Newfoundland Power and Development Corporation, to carry out the project. However, the subsidiary was unable to attract industrial customers to the area; this, it felt, was necessary before undertaking the project, so in 1964 it sold all its rights and assets to the Newfoundland Government. The government, by taking over the project, became eligible for a $20 million grant from the

Atlantic Development Board The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

agency. The engineering and construction work was carried out by ShawMont Newfoundland Engineering, a joint venture company formed by Shawinigan Engineering and Montreal Engineering in 1964. The Bay D'Espoir Hydroelectric Development was undertaken to provide the province with a large source of low-cost electric power which would allow the Island's utilities to extend their services, stimulate the expansion of the industries already in the province and attract new industries to Newfoundland and Labrador. The

Electric Reduction Company of Canada Industries Limited Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

(ERCO),

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

plant at Long Harbour and the

Come by Chance Oil Refinery Come By Chance Refinery was a crude oil refinery operated by North Atlantic Refining in Come By Chance, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It has a refining capacity of . The plant is undergoing conversion to a biofuel operation. History The ref ...

at Come by Chance were built partially because of the availability of cheap power. Units 1 through 4 went online between 1967 and 1968, with each unit having a rated capacity of 75 MW. Generating unit 2 underwent a major refurbishment during the summer of 2010, including a

stator The stator is the stationary part of a rotary system, found in electric generators, electric motors, sirens, mud motors or biological rotors. Energy flows through a stator to or from the rotating component of the system. In an electric mot ...

rewind, rotor pole re-insulation and protection upgrade. This project was the first stator rewind on a unit of this size in Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's history."Bay d'Espoir Hydroelectric Generating Station Generating Unit 2 Refurbishment"
Kevin King,

Newfoundland Labrador Hydro Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (NL Hydro), commonly known as Hydro, is a provincial Crown corporation that generates and delivers electricity for Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as portions of Quebec and the north-eastern areas of the United ...

Design

The headwaters of the Bay d'Espoir system begin at Victoria Lake at an approximate elevation of 320 metres. Through a man-made array of

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s and

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s, this water is directed to generating plants at Granite Canal, Upper Salmon and, finally, 150 km from Victoria Lake to its final tidewater destination at Bay d'Espoir. Water is collected, stored and diverted from a number of drainage areas between Victoria Lake and Long Pond, the forebay for the two Bay d'Espoir generating stations. The seven generating units at Bay d'Espoir utilize approximately 176 m of

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

to produce a rated output of 604 MW with a rated flow of 397 m³/s. The plant produces an average of 2,657 GWh annually, making it the largest hydroelectric plant on Newfoundland.

References

External links

{{stack, {{Portal, Canada, Water, Renewable energy
Bay d'Espoir Hydroelectric Generating Facility website
Dams in Newfoundland and Labrador Hydroelectric power stations in Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro