History

From the Water Wheel to Hydropower

People have been benefiting from the power of water for more than two thousand years. Water wheels were used to grind wheat into flour as early as 100 B.C.

During the 19th century, the water wheel was used to produce electricity. At the end of that century, the water turbine gradually replaced the water wheel, and soil and rock dams were built to control the flow of water.

Since then, the hydroelectric potential of rivers continued to be developed, especially in Canada, a country rich in rivers. Now the world's biggest producer of hydropower, Canada generates about 350 TWh/year of hydropower, an amount that represents nearly 62% of the country's total electricity production. The following account for most of the hydropower produced in Canada: Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Yukon Territory, where hydropower represents more than 80% of the total electricity production.

History of Hydropower in Canada

1881
Ottawa Electric Light Company builds a small waterwheel plant at Chaudière Falls supplying power for street lighting and local mills, possibly the first hydraulic generator in Canada.

1892
Montreal's first hydroelectric installation is built on the Lachine canal.

1893
Alberta's first hydropower generation is a 280 horse power (hp) water wheel on the Bow River, Calgary.

1898
The construction of the country's first major hydroelectric facility begins at Shawinigan Falls, Quebec.

De Cew Falls, the oldest high-head hydroelectric station in Canada, is built by the Cataract Power Company of Ontario, transmitting power at 11,000 volts more than 56 km to Hamilton.

Goldstream, the first major hydroelectric plant on the West coast, is built by B.C. Electric near Victoria and produces 1,200 hp.

Newfoundland's first hydroelectric plant is built at Black River by the Newfoundland Pulp Company.

1900
Manitoba's first hydroelectric generating station, the Minnedosa River Plant, is completed.

The first international transmission line between Canada and the United States is built.

Installed hydropower (yearly production capacity) reaches 173,000 hp.

1902
Shawinigan Electric Company in Quebec installs the largest generators in the world (5,000 hp) at Shawinigan Falls and begins sending power some 135 km to Montreal at 50 kV along the longest transmission line in the world.

1903
Buntzen Lake, northeast of Vancouver in British Columbia, produces 5,000 hp.

1904
New Brunswick's first hydroelectric plant is built on the Meduxnekeag River.

1906
Pinawa is the first hydroelectric generating station on the Winnipeg River and the first in Manitoba to operate all year round. After the construction of Pinawa, the electricity rates fall from 20 cents per kWh to 3.3 cents. Manitoba still has among the lowest electricity rates in the world.

Ontario Hydro, the first government-owned utility in North America, is created.

1914
Wasdell Falls, Ontario Hydro's first hydropower project, is built.

1920
Hydropower represents more than 97% of the electricity produced in Canada.

1921
Sir Adam Beck 1, built by Ontario Hydro at Niagara Falls, is the largest power plant in the world at the time.

1944
Hydro-Québec, one of the biggest electric utilities in North America, is created.

1950
Hydropower represents 90 % of the total installed capacity.

1957
The first central pumped water storage for electric power generation is put in service at Niagara Falls.

1960
Installed hydropower reaches 26,688,094 hp.

1966
Manitoba Hydro begins hydroelectric development on the Nelson River, Canada's fourth largest river.

1968
Daniel-Johnson dam, the world's largest arch-and-buttress dam, is built on the Manicouagan River.

1971
Churchill Falls power plant in Labrador, the largest underground powerhouse, begins delivering power.

1973
Work on La Grande Complex covering a territory of 176,00 km2 on the James Bay territory begins.

1975
James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

1977
Manitoba Northern Flood Agreement.

1992
Limestone Generating Station, on the Nelson River, is the first project in Manitoba to incorporate environmental concerns into every aspect of its planning, design and construction.

1994
Construction begins on the highest rockfill dam in Quebec, Sainte-Marguerite-3, the largest hydropower station under construction in North America today.

1998
The Canadian Hydropower Association is created.

Sources:

Gaslights to Gigawatts: A Human History of BC Hydro and its Predecessors, BC Hydro Power Pioneers, Hurricane Press, 1998.

Making the Connection, BC Hydro, April 2000

A History of Electric Power in Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro.

Le siècle de l'électricité, Association canadienne de l'électricité
1891-1991, 1990.

BC Hydro

Hydro-Québec

Manitoba Hydro

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers