Robert-Bourassa generating station
| Robert-Bourassa Generating Station | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Official name | Centrale Robert-Bourassa |
| Location | Baie-James, Quebec, Canada |
| Coordinates | 53°47′43″N 77°26′26″W / 53.79528°N 77.44056°WCoordinates: 53°47′43″N 77°26′26″W / 53.79528°N 77.44056°W |
| Construction began | 1974 |
| Opening date | 1981 |
| Construction cost | C$3.8 billion (1987) |
| Owner(s) | Hydro-Québec |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Embankment dam |
| Impounds | La Grande River |
| Height | 162 m (531 ft) |
| Length | 2,835 m (9,301 ft) |
| Width (crest) | 9 m (30 ft) |
| Spillway capacity | 17,600 m3/s (621,538 cu ft/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Robert-Bourassa Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 61.7 km3 (50,000,000 acre·ft) |
| Surface area | 2,835 km2 (1,095 sq mi) |
| Power station | |
| Hydraulic head | 137.2 m (450 ft) |
| Turbines | 16 × 351 MW Francis turbines |
| Installed capacity | 5,616 MW |
| Sources: * Société d'énergie de la Baie James 1987, pp. 117–180; 370*Hydro-Québec, The La Grande Complex visitor booklet, 2004, |
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The Robert-Bourassa generating station (formerly known as La Grande-2) is a hydroelectric power station on the La Grande River that is part of Hydro-Québec's James Bay Project in Canada. The station can generate 5,616 MW and its 16 units were gradually commissioned between 1979 and 1981. Annual generation is in the vicinity of 26500 GWh.
Together with the adjacent 2,106 MW La Grande-2-A generating station (LG-2-A), commissioned in 1991-1992, it uses the reservoir and dam system of the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir to generate electricity. The two plants taken together account for more than 20% of Hydro-Québec's total installed capacity of 36,810 MW in 2009. It is Canada's largest hydroelectric power station and currently ranks in 8th place on the list of largest hydroelectric power stations.
Initially known as La Grande-2, it was renamed after Robert Bourassa who, as Premier of Quebec (1970–1976 and 1985–1994) gave the James Bay Project a vital political impetus.
The Robert-Bourassa generating station is the main facility of the James Bay hydroelectric project, a large hydroelectric complex built on the La Grande River, a large river in Quebec's scarcely populated northern Quebec. It was also the first to be built, between 1974 and 1981. It was inaugurated by Premier René Lévesque of Quebec, on October 27, 1979.
Conception work on the generating station, dam and reservoir began in October 1970 when Montreal-based engineering firm Rousseau Sauvé Warren (RSW) was given by Hydro-Québec to make the case for the development of the La Grande River. Another engineering firm, Asselin, Benoît, Boucher, Ducharme & Lapointe (ABBDL) was tasked with a feasibility study on the more southerly NBR (Nottaway, Broadback, Rupert) concept. At RSW the development of the La Grande River was championed by François Rousseau, one of firm's associates and a former Hydro-Québec senior engineer.
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