A fire last fall at Churchill Falls knocked out two of the 11 generating units at the facility, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro confirmed for Bond Papers Monday.
Repairs began immediately after the fire and one of the two disabled generators returned to service in February. Repairs continue on the other.
The fire damaged cables connecting the underground transformers to transformers on the surface. There were no injuries. The fire was contained on the surface by Churchill Falls fire and security staff. Newspaper reports at the time indicated that the facility was evacuated as a safety precaution.
An investigation into the fire is expected to be completed shortly at which time further details will be released.
A January 16 story in the Montreal Gazette warned readers to be cautious about their power consumption. Winter is normally a time of heavy demand in Quebec. As the Gazette reported:
Hydro's provincial grid is stretched especially tight these days because two turbines in Churchill Falls, N.L., that normally supply Hydro-Québec with 1,000 megawatts were damaged by fire in the fall.
CFLCo’s Churchill Falls facility generates in excess of 5400 megawatts.
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