695-megawatt Keeyask Generating Station currently under
construction on the Nelson River in northern Manitoba.
The construction of Bipole III transmission line includes
building two converter stations. The northern terminus of
Bipole III is the Keewatinohk Converter Station, which is
about 80 kilometres northeast of the town of Gillam. The
southern end of Bipole III is the Riel Converter Station, east
of Winnipeg.
Manitoba Hydro’s generating stations produce alternating
current (AC) electricity. For transmission over Bipole III, AC
will be converted to direct current (DC) electricity through
the rectification process at the Keewatinohk Converter
Station. DC is more economical to transmit over long distances.
At Riel, DC will be converted back to AC through the
inversion process to supply to customers. Most of the electricity
used in the world is AC.
Bruce Owen, public affairs officer with Manitoba Hydro,
says that the Bipole III Reliability Project will help meet the
growing needs of Manitoba residents.
“Bipole III is essential to enhance the long-term reliability
of Manitoba Hydro’s power grid, and provides additional
capacity to bring electricity from new hydro projects in the
north to southern Manitoba,” said Owen. “The additional
capacity also accommodates increased future export sales
that will help to pay for important system upgrades and
moderate rates.”
The construction process
At Keewatinohk, the site takes up 25 hectares and includes
a 10,000-square-metre HVDC converter building. The converter
station will also include a 230-kilovolt (kV) AC
switchyard and several auxiliary and process buildings.
Preparation of the Keewatinohk site started in early 2014
and Keewatinohk Lodge, the main construction accommodations
where workers stay, officially opened in September
2015. Construction on the converter station foundation
infrastructure started the following month. Work to install
piles will continue throughout this winter with the majority
of the foundation work scheduled to be completed through
the summer and early fall of 2016.
At the same time, the Bipole III project requires about
4,300 piles at the Riel Converter Station, most of which are
pre-cast concrete piles, and another approximately 2,600
cast-in-place and 4,000 helical piles to support the transmission
line towers between Keewatinohk and Riel. The Riel
and Keewatinohk stations are expected to be completed and
ready for operation in the summer of 2018, when the entire
Bipole III transmission line is put into service.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Worker accommodations at the Keewatinohk converter station, located about 80 kilometres northeast of Gillam, Man.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
30 Q1 2016 www.pilingcanada.ca
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