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BY THE NUMBERS
Water spills
generate electricity
for historic
Welland Ship Canal
25 GWh
of green energy
generated
16,000 tonnes
of CO 2 offset annually
The Welland Ship Canal was
first constructed in 1824 to
help cargo vessels ascend and
descend the escarpment between
Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in
the Great Lakes system.
Today more than
40 million tonnes of cargo
move freely each year through
the canal avoiding the famed
Niagara Falls.
But the St. Lawrence Seaway
Management Corporation saw
another opportunity in the canal:
the generation of electricity.
Today the spill water from
Locks 1 and 2 generates 25
GWh of green energy and offsets
annually 16,000 tonnes of
carbon dioxide.
Hatch was retained to design
two water-power facilities
within the locks. There are eight
locks in the canal between
Port Colborne (Lake Erie) and
Port Weller (Lake Ontario),
compared with 40 in the first
Welland Canal. Hatch’s scope
was to ensure the designs were
constructible within the tight
and variable confines of the
canal and that the construction
activities could be completed
during the icy months of January
to March when the canal was
closed. The objective was ‘no
interference with shipping’ in
this critical waterway.
Hatch was up to the challenge
and for this novel project
received the Canadian
Consulting Engineering
Award of Excellence.
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Systems & Process Control
Hatch’s Systems & Process Controls business practice is
a key differentiator for Hatch. We offer a full spectrum
of services from instrumentation and automation to
operational information management in order to ensure
our clients' facilities operate at the highest reliability
and efficiency.
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Global Director
Systems & Process Control
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Hatch Advantage July 2011 | 21