This hydro power station will receive $1.1 billion in upgrades
David Wagman | August 05, 2019The New York Power Authority is launching a 15-year, $1.1 billion modernization and digitization program to extend the operating life of the Niagara Power Project, one of the country's largest hydroelectric projects.
The program centers on the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, the Niagara project's main generating facility. The plant uses 13 generators and has an installed capacity of 2,675 megawatts.
NYPA's Board of Trustees approved in late July the investment in the Niagara project, which began operating in 1961. The planned investment makes the project the largest capital project in NYPA's history.
Work will encompass four major phases, including a comprehensive inspection of the Robert Moses plant's penstocks; refurbishing the 630 ton crane that enables mechanical work at the plant; upgrading and digitizing the control systems; and building a new back-up control room and replacing mechanical parts that have reached the end of their operating life. Work is set to begin later in 2019.
The Federal Power Commission issued a license in 1957 to the New York Power Authority to develop Niagara Falls' hydroelectric power. The dam is 1,840 ft long, 580 ft wide and 384 ft high.
The dam was built not to control the flow of water in the Niagara River, but to hold the 1,900 acre upper Lewiston Reservoir. The reservoir stores water before releasing it into the forebay of the Robert Moses Power Station. Water enters the forebay via tunnels from the Niagara River controlled by the International Control Dam located upstream of the natural falls.
In 2010, the NYPA announced a $460 million overhaul of the Lewiston Pump Generating-Plant, which operates during periods of peak power demand by supplementing the electricity output of the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant. Work included replacing and modifying major components of the Lewiston plant's pump-turbine generators. That upgrade was slated to be completed in 2020.
In 2006, NYPA completed a $24 million maintenance program at the same plant and also finished a $298 million, 15-year program to upgrade the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant. In that upgrade, NYPA replaced turbines and retrofitted other components of all 13 generating units.
