Hydro closes Keeyask generating station after huge ‘peat island’ floats into it By: Carol Sanders Posted: 6:11 PM CDT Wednesday, Jul. 5, 2023

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This article was published 05/07/2023 (1135 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A massive debris blockage that prompted the shutdown of all seven units of Manitoba Hydro’s Keeyask generating station cost the public power company nearly $350,000 a day in lost revenue, internal documents show.

A June 16 briefing by the Crown corporation’s water resources engineering department, which was obtained by the Free Press, shows the problem began on May 16 when a “large peat island” washed up against the northern generating station’s power house.

Satellite images show a mass of debris — described by a Hydro spokesman as “the size of a football field” — butting into Manitoba’s newest hydroelectric station, which became fully operational with seven generating units in March 2022.

The 695-megawatt station is 725 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg on the lower Nelson River.

Neither the union that represents generating station employees, nor Manitoba Hydro’s communications director, could recall a time when a buildup of debris prompted the total shutdown of a power station.

“I don’t think it’s happened before,” said Mike Espenell, business manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2034.

“This would’ve been a pretty visible mass floating down the river. It obviously should have been dealt with in a lot more timely way than it was dealt with.”

Two days after the peat island hit Keeyask, workers in 18 boats tried, unsuccessfully, to move the island away from the generating station, said Scott Powell, Hydro’s communications director.

“They were making progress and then the wind turned,” he said Wednesday. By May 26, equipment was in place to begin “clamming” or scooping up the peat and debris — that was partly frozen and starting to melt — and removing it, he said.

Removal of the surface debris continued from June 2 to 15, but it became clear the clog was deeper and more needed to be done, as the power produced by the generating station’s seven units decreased.

To avoid the risk of damaging the $8.7-billion station, Manitoba Hydro decided to shut down all seven units on June 15, at an estimated cost of $10 million per month, or nearly $350,000 a day, in lost revenue.

On Wednesday, Powell said the “peat island” has been removed and five of Keeyask’s seven units are back in operation. The cleanup continues, however, with divers called in to clean the “trash racks” — the strainers that catch debris before it enters the units.

“This would’ve been a pretty visible mass floating down the river. It obviously should have been dealt with in a lot more timely way than it was dealt with.”–Mike Espenell

He said he wasn’t able to give an estimate Wednesday of the revenue lost during the shut down. “Obviously there’s some impact,” he said.

It’s not a “massive percentage” of Manitoba Hydro revenue — which was just over $3 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

The publicly owned power utility budgets for shutdowns and maintenance, and the arrival of the “peat island” gumming up the works “was not unforeseen as a potential impact,” given the type of terrain in the area, Powell said.

“It’s just bigger than anyone anticipated.” Hydro will continue to monitor the situation, he said. He denied that any actions, including increased staffing, could’ve been taken to prevent it from happening.

The engineering report — which Powell said he hadn’t seen — recommends a debris-mitigation plan, that includes a debris boom and dedicated equipment, be formalized to “prevent future events.”

The business manager for the union, which has been in a labour dispute with Manitoba Hydro since Friday after rejecting the latest contract offer, alleged the shutdown was preventable.

“I think it’s probably a function of not properly maintaining and monitoring the generating station,” said Espenell.

“There is very minimal staffing levels, which is crazy when you consider you’ve got a billions-of-dollars facility and you’re worried about having an extra member or two staff it,” said the IBEW representative.

“There is very minimal staffing levels, which is crazy when you consider you’ve got a billions-of-dollars facility and you’re worried about having an extra member or two staff it.”–Mike Espenell

It is operated by Manitoba Hydro and owned jointly by it and four Manitoba First Nations: Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake First Nation, York Factory First Nation, and Fox Lake Cree Nation.

More than 2,000 Manitoba Hydro employees, including those who work at northern generating stations and repair transmission lines, have restricted standby and call-out work schedules, and capped overtime hours since Friday after giving Hydro 48 hours’ strike notice.

Espenell said the job action delayed “clamming” work at Keeyask for three days, adding to Hydro’s revenue losses. It has led to “significant additional cost and delays” in restoring power after recent storms caused outages, especially in the Interlake, he said.

Powell said the work restrictions haven’t affected the utility’s storm response in a significant way.

“The delays in response were due to the nature of the damage, which was localized and, in some cases, significant. These damages were concentrated in the northern Interlake and a couple of locations in the north,” Powell said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca