Twin Falls Expansion – Abitibi River

Abitibi River – Twin Falls Generating Station

Check out the color of the water in the Abitibi.

Owned and operated by H2O Power.   The Twin Falls Generating Station is going through an upgrade/expansion under the Hydroelectric Contract Initiative.

The Twin Falls Generating Station is a five-unit hydroelectric station located on the Abitibi River. The station was built in 1922, all five generators rewound between 1982 and 1992 to increase capacity, switchgears modernized in 1999, and controls modernized in 2009. The original turbine runners remain in service and are currently being upgraded. The station has an installed capacity of 24 MW at a head of 16 metres.

Located east of the town of Iroquois Falls in Teefy Township, the station serves as a peaking station and controls the discharge of Lake Abitibi. Twin Falls regulates the water levels and flow from Lake Abitibi. Operations pertaining to levels and flows are governed under the 2004-2014 Abitibi River Water Management Plan. The site is restricted by a maximum water elevation due to flood constraints and a summer minimum elevation to respect navigational constraints. Operation of the station is coordinated with Iroquois Falls downstream, which is constrained by a 56.6 m3/s minimum flow limit. The station is remotely controlled from the H2O Power LP Operating Center located in Oshawa.

Twin Falls station is categorized as close coupled, and has no penstocks. The station consists of a powerhouse, a concrete gravity section containing the spillway, sluice gates, and an earth section. Each generating unit is provided with two head gates, which are operated by a common shaft hoist. There is a sluice gate on the spillway, and each gate is powered by a screw-operated motorized drive train. The headpond operates between the minimum elevation of 262.92 metres and maximum elevation of 265.39 metres. The summer operating range minimum is 263.7 metres.

Twin Falls is connected to the existing Hydro One 230kV circuit A931 and connects to Ansonville TS.

This hydroelectric generating station generates approximately 134,000 MWh of renewable energy per year.

Project Status (5 MW Runner Upgrade) as of September 30, 2013.

• Refurbishment of the G5 rotor, stator and exciter was completed
• Pre-shutdown capacity testing was completed on G2 and G3
• Reassembly of the G5 turbine and generator was mostly completed and commissioning is planned for late 2013
• New runner and refurbished turbine components were received at the site

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