PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
POWERING
THE FUTURE
Five thousand piles set
Manitoba’s Keewatinohk
converter station on
solid foundations
By Lily Slain
It’s been about 2,000 years since the Romans ruled the earth,
but their magnificent aqueducts can still be found across
Europe; a few are even still in use. If the modern world has a
comparable achievement, it might be our hydro corridors.
The Romans were transporting water across great distances;
now we harness the power of water to create electricity that
is transported over hundreds of kilometres.
The Romans themselves would have admired contemporary
projects like Bipole III, currently underway in Manitoba.
It’s one of the largest projects of its kind in North America
and one of the biggest capital projects that Manitoba Hydro,
the province’s energy utility, has ever undertaken.
The Bipole III Transmission Reliability Project is a new
high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system
that will carry power from Manitoba Hydro’s northern generating
stations located on the Nelson River to southern
Manitoba. The almost 1,400-kilometre transmission line is
being built to serve as a back-up to the Bipole I and Bipole
II HVDC transmission lines, which were constructed in the
1970s. Currently, more than 70 per cent of the electricity generated
by Manitoba Hydro’s northern generating stations is
delivered to customers using the two HVDC lines.
Bipole III will create an alternate route to bring electricity
to the south of the province, strengthening the overall reliability
of Manitoba’s electricity supply. It will also provide
additional capacity to deliver renewable energy from the
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MANITOBA HYDRO
Ten Years of Piling Canada 29