Ontario Power closer to completing a CSR project for the ages

All too often energy companies seem less likely to receive good press when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) business plans when compared with over industries. Part of that may be due to consumers seeing energy companies as a necessary evil and also that many aren’t making the giant strides towards renewable energy at the pace that the public would like to see. One such exception really does deserve high praise and when completed a new project by Ontario Power will be the heart of the world’s largest renewable energy source.

It just happens to be under construction at one of the world’s most famous locations – Niagara Falls, which straddles the border between Ontario and New York. The world famous waterfall is the site of the ongoing “Niagara Tunnel Project”. Upon completion the energy generated for the Sir Adam Beck power generating station will provide sufficient electricity to power more than 160,000 homes, equivalent of about 1.6 kilowatt hours per year. The massive engineering project began in 2005 and is scheduled for completion in 2013. It’s undertaken a massive investment by Ontario Power to create an immense hard rock tunnel which will run some 6.3 miles / 10.2 km to power electric turbines created from the force of the river above the falls as it drops along to the power station downstream. Generating such a huge amount of renewable energy could not be accomplished with any type of piping/tunneling that we’ve ever seen before which is where ‘Big Becky’ comes into play.

Workers on the Ontario Power tunnel project celebrate tunnel completion

‘Big Becky’ is the world’s largest hard rock boring machine which has been used from the beginning of the project to create a remarkable tunnel that will have a finished diameter of 14.4 metres / 47.3 feet. You could drive a truck through it with a three-story extended ladder on top, it’s an amazing engineering feat which will simply through the force of gravity about excess water from the river above the falls to drop at the rate of 500 cubic metres / 17,660 cubic feet per second. The huge amount of energy created by the water is hard to envision but the flow would fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in just a few seconds.

But it will not impact the spectacular waterfalls either, at present only a third of the water along the Niagara river cascades over the famous falls and the Niagara Treaty an international agreement between Canada and the US dictates the shared use of water between the two nations. Previously Canada used her share of water at power stations that have now been decommissioned which is where the Niagara Tunnel project came into play. This month marks a significant development project as Big Becky completed her task and broke through at the end of the tunnel, now the final preparation phase of reinforcing the preparing the tunnel for long-term use will be completed. Ontario Power are rightly proud of the project coming in well under budget which will transfer little in terms of cost to consumers for the entire construction process.

When completed in 2013 the site of one of the most famous natural landmarks on the continent will also have running underneath it one of the most impressive and green engineering marvels imaginable. Watch the video below for the highlights of the landmark arrival of the boring machine christened ‘Big Becky’. You can follow the OP Niagara Tunnel project on the company’s Facebook page.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMGOTKvWerE[/youtube]

Big Becky making her breakthrough earlier this month