The Romaine-1 Generating Station (french: Centrale de la Romaine-1) is a 270 MW
hydroelectric generating station on the
Romaine River
The Romaine River is a river in the Côte-Nord region of the Canadian province of Quebec. It is long. It is not to be confused with the Olomane River that is to the east and had the same name for a long time. It flows south into the Gulf of Sain ...
in the
Côte-Nord
Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past Tadous ...
region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is owned and operated by
Hydro-Québec.
Location
The dam is on the Romaine River in the municipality of
Havre-Saint-Pierre
Havre-Saint-Pierre is a town on Pointe-aux-Esquimaux, which is on the Quebec north shore (Côte-Nord) of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. Located along Route 138 some east of Sept-Îles, it is the largest town and seat of the Minganie RCM, ...
in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, Quebec.
It is from the mouth of the river.
The site is open to visitors, who can visit three floors of the generating station and walk on the dam.
Description
The Romaine-1 Dam (''Barrage de la Romaine-1'') is high and has a holding capacity of .
It is zoned rockfill, with a waterproofing screen.
The foundation is treated rock.
The reservoir covers .
Peak surface elevation is .
Drawdown from peak to minimum water levels is just .
A short canal carries water from just west of the dam to the generating station's water intake.
The plant does not have a feed gallery or a surge chamber.
It has two Francis-type turbine generator units.
The generating station has capacity of 270 MW.
The utilization factor is 0.59.
Annual average production is 1.4 TW.
With its small reservoir, Romaine-1 gives off low and variable greenhouse gas emissions, and in this is similar to a
run-of-the-river
Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...
station.
The Romaine complex as a whole is one of the most efficient in Quebec in terms of CO
2 equivalent emissions per TWh.
History
The dams and generating station are part of a huge hydroelectric complex with four dams on the Romaine River.
The overall Romaine project was formally launched by Quebec premier
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House o ...
in May 2009.
A road was built to provide access to the four dams.
The Murailles camp at from the start of the road was built to house up to 2,408 workers on the Romaine 2 and Romaine 1 projects.
The project was completed in 42 months, 7 months ahead of schedule.
On 25 November 2015 Hydro-Québec announced that the generating station had been commissioned with a group of turbine generators producing 135 MW of power.
A second group of generators was planned to start up later that year.
Romaine-1 is the second power station commissioned on the Romaine River. The first was the 640 MW
Romaine-2.
In September 2017 Hydro-Québec had said it had no plans for more dams due to the present surplus of electricity.
During the inauguration of
Romaine-3 in October 2017, Quebec premier
Philippe Couillard
Philippe Couillard (; born June 26, 1957) is a Canadian business advisor and former neurosurgeon, university professor and politician who served as 31st premier of Quebec from 2014 to 2018. Between 2003 and 2008, he was Quebec's Minister of He ...
confirmed that no more major projects were planned.
Controversies
The company had to negotiate several agreements with the local
Innu communities, paying more than CDN$200 million over a 60-year period to compensate for the effects of the dams, roads and electric transmission lines.
There were a number of controversies.
In March 2012
Quebec Route 138
Route 138 is a major highway in the Canadian province of Quebec, following the entire north shore of the Saint Lawrence River past Montreal to the temporary eastern terminus in Kegashka on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The western terminus is in ...
was blocked at
Maliotenam
Maliotenam (Mani-Utenam in Innu-aimun) is a First Nations reserve in Quebec, located adjacent to the city of Sept-Îles. Together with Uashat some distance away, it forms the Innu community of Uashat-Maliotenam. The community is a part of the ...
by the Innu, who were demanding compensation for the power lines on their territory.
In June 2015 Route 138 was blocked at
Pessamit
Pessamit (formerly Betsiamites, or Bersimis), is a First Nations reserve and Innu community in the Canadian province of Quebec, located about southwest from Baie-Comeau along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Betsia ...
and
Maliotenam
Maliotenam (Mani-Utenam in Innu-aimun) is a First Nations reserve in Quebec, located adjacent to the city of Sept-Îles. Together with Uashat some distance away, it forms the Innu community of Uashat-Maliotenam. The community is a part of the ...
, and the access road to the construction site was blocked, by construction workers demanding that more local workers be hired.
In July 2015 the road to the site was blocked by the Innu of
Natashquan who felt that Hydro-Quebec did not respect the agreement signed in 2008.
In March 2016 a court rejected the demand by Innu families of Uashat mak Mani-utenam to stop the project.
In November 2016 there was controversy over the waste of wood cut in the reservoirs.
Notes
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Dams in Quebec
Minganie Regional County Municipality
Dams completed in 2015
Energy infrastructure completed in 2015