[1] It is the first plant ever built by Hydro-Québec and it has been described as a turning point in the history of electricity in province, paving the way for the takeover of all private utilities by the government-owned corporation in 1963.
With upgrades, a major overhaul in the 1990s and further river diversions, Bersimis-1 installed capacity has been increased over time to its current 1,178 megawatts.
[6][7] In 1937, the Quebec government granted a forest concession to the Anglo Canadian Pulp & Paper Co.[8] to supply its Forestville mill, on the coast.
In the Montreal area, the addition of 12 more units at the Beauharnois generating station would not be sufficient to meet the steady increase in demand as early as 1956.
According to Claude Bellavance, an economic historian who wrote a comprehensive book on the rise and fall of SWP, this decision by the Maurice Duplessis government had major consequences on the future of the company, which was bought and merged by Hydro-Québec in 1963.
In hindsight, writes Bellavance, this move represented a major step towards the re-appropriation of this economic sector by the State, making Hydro-Québec the main if not the sole entity in charge of hydroelectric development in the province.
The first step involved building infrastructures to deliver 500,000 tons of equipment, food and supplies to the 5,000 workers on site, including a wharf and a warehouse in Forestville and 230 km (140 mi) of roadwork in the hinterland.
[16] Construction of Labrieville, a village named in honor of Napoléon-Alexandre Labrie, founding bishop of the Gulf of St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Diocese, began in June 1953.
[14] Described as a "jewel set in the ruggedness of wild country", the village was located in the Betsiamite River valley a short distance from the generating station.
A sufficient quantity was found nearby by surveyors with the assistance of native guides, who recalled seeing beavers fetching the material for their own dams.
Two sets of crossing pylons, separated by a span width of 1.6 km (1 mi)[24] were built on each side of river in order not to interfere with shipping.
In his stories, Laporte reports on the long hours, bad pay and unhealthy working conditions, mismanagement and shady contracting practices.
The stories, published a few days after 10 men died in a scaffolding collapse on January 22, 1954, generated heated debates at the Legislature.
Inspired by Laporte's reporting, Liberal opposition leader Georges-Émile Lapalme accused the Maurice Duplessis government of mismanagement.
thesis submitted in 2009, Richard Landry concluded that pay and working conditions onsite were comparable or even better than what was afforded to the average Canadian worker at the time, while stressing the 1954 accident incited Hydro-Québec to implement health and safety measures geared towards prevention.
It was followed in 2003 by the partial diversion of the Manouane River in order to increase the flow by 30.8 m3/s and the annual production of the Bersimis power stations by 378 gigawatt-hours.
[30] Inspections of the 12 km (7.5 mi) intake tunnel in 1979, 1981 and 1983 have showed its walls were covered by a 5 mm (0.20 in) layer of a black sticky slime, decreasing the capacity of the generating station by approximately 39 MW.