Abitibi Canyon Generating Station

Abitibi Canyon Dam
Abitibi Canyon Dam
	Location of Abitibi Canyon Dam in Ontario
Country	Canada
Location	Unorganized North Cochrane District, Ontario
Coordinates	49°52′40″N 81°34′15″W / 49.87778°N 81.57083°W
Purpose	Power
Status	Operational
Opening date	October 1933
Owner(s)	Ontario Power Generation
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Abitibi River
Installed capacity	349 MW

Abitibi Canyon Generating Station is a hydroelectric power plant owned by Ontario Power Generation on the Abitibi River. The station is located 80 km north of Smooth Rock Falls, within Pitt Township in Northern Unorganized Cochrane District, in Ontario, Canada.

This facility is the fifth downstream hydroelectric plant of six on the Abitibi River. Designed by George F. Hardy Company, the construction of this 349 MW facility began in 1930 and became fully operational in 1936.^[1] Hydro One has a 500 kV transmission line along with a 230 kV line that runs south to Sudbury and continues all the way to Toronto to interconnect with the rest of the 500 kV network in Ontario.

Abitibi Canyon community

In 1930, a colony was established to house the employees of the plant and their families. About 130 people lived in the community which contained 30 homes, a community hall, skating rink, shooting range, school, hospital, general store, post office and church. By 1982, the community had expanded to about 300 residents.^[2]

In Popular Culture

Musician Wade Hemsworth wrote a song about his negative experiences while working as part of a survey crew during the dam's construction, later featured in an animation by Christopher Hinton and the National Film Board, which was nominated for two awards.

References

^ "Abitibi Canyon Generating Station". www.opg.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
^ "Abitibi Canyon Generating Station". www.opg.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 2010-07-30.