Augustine: At the beginning of your video, I see four pipes that appear to being going down to the river from above. Is this a hydro-electric system that uses water flowing from above to power turbines for electricity. If so, I wonder how the water gets to the top of the system. In Ludington, Michigan, they have a facility that pumps water from Lake Michigan up to the higher ground above into a reservoir 110 feet deep, and then that reservoir allows water to flow down to the lake's edge to power turbines. An interesting concept to create electrical energy from gravity and water similar to a dam. They reverse the process to pump the water up.
Well you did ask LOL
It is a Dam at the top.
I fly the river a lot. Above the Dam, below the Dam, at the falls, below the falls.
Kakabeka Generating Station is a hydroelectric facility operated by Ontario Power Generation on the bank of the Kaministiquia River, 2 km (1.2 mi) downstream from Kakabeka Falls in the community of Kakabeka Falls, Ontario, 30 km (19 mi) west of Thunder Bay. The plant provides energy to the city of Thunder Bay and area. The station is one of ten hydroelectric stations in Ontario Power Generation's Northwest Plant Group, and is remotely operated from Thunder Bay.
Kakabeka Generating Station began operating in 1906, with two hydroelectric generating units. A third unit was added in 1911, and a fourth was added in 1914. Its four units provide a peak output of 25 MW, enough energy to supply 14,000 homes.
The station is among the oldest power stations in Ontario, and much of the original equipment from 1906 is still in operation. It was owned and operated by the Kaministiquia Power Company until 1949, when it was purchased from its parent company, Abitibi Power and Paper Company, by the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, which became Ontario Hydro in 1974. After the 1999 restructuring of Ontario Hydro, the plant came under control of Ontario Power Generation.
Construction of the facility began in September, 1905 and employed 600 men. It involved the construction of a railroad siding and temporary station on the CN line 0.8 km (0.50 mi) from the falls, and the construction of a narrow gauge railway to bring equipment to the site. Three aqueducts measuring 3 m (9.8 ft) in diameter were constructed to bring water from Ecarte Rapids upstream from Kakabeka Falls to the surge chamber. Water then flowed through four penstocks to the station below, a total decline of 58 m (190 ft).
The plant originally consisted of two 7,000 HP Francis turbine units, manufactured by J. M. Voith in Heidenheim, Germany,which produce 5.3 MW of electricity each. An expansion in 1911 saw the addition of a third 5 MW unit, at which point the powerhouse was expanded to its present size. In 1914, a fourth unit, generating 8.7 MW,and the third aqueduct, were added.In 1998, the three aqueducts were replaced with one large aqueduct with a 5 m (16 ft) internal diameter.
