Niagara Tunnel Project

Water delivered by the major new tunnel complements other upgrades to the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations, resulting in more efficient use of the Niagara River's hydro power.

The project's new 12.7 metres (42 ft) diameter, 10.2 kilometres (6.3 mi) long tunnel was officially placed into service on 21 March 2013, helping to increase the generating complex's nameplate capacity by 150 megawatts,[1] with the extra power produced enough for approximately 160,000 homes.

[2] The Ontario Government considers the Niagara Tunnel Project and the Sir Adam Beck complex as integral to its efforts to close all of the province's coal-fired generating plants as part of its clean and green energy program.

[1] The HP 471-316 TBM was driven by 15 electric motors totaling about 4.7 megawatts of power (6,375 horsepower), built by the Robbins Company of Solon, Ohio, and was the world's largest hard-rock tunnel boring machine as of 2006.

The operational start-of-service date was nine months sooner than the project's revised schedule that was drawn up in 2009 due to unexpected and difficult geological conditions encountered in the soft Queenston Shale Formation during the tunnel boring process.