Hydro-Quebec, which is considered one of the world’s largest hydroelectric producers, is currently developing the La Romaine hydroelectric complex on the Romaine River, located north of municipality of Havre-St-Pierre, on the North Shore of St-Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada.
This CA$6.5 billion (US$ 6.49 billion) hydroelectric complex has an installed capacity of 1,550 MW and includes four hydro-generating stations with an expected annual output of 8.0 TWh. The renewable project focuses on increasing generating capacity, developing Quebec’s hydropower potential and meeting current energy needs without jeopardizing the energy supply of the future.
AECOM was entrusted by Hydro-Quebec with the mandate to carry out the detailed engineering of Romaine-2, Romaine-1 and Romaine-3 as well as the preliminary studies for Romaine-3 and Romaine-4. As part of the project, AECOM is also providing technical support during the construction of all power plants and is conducting multiple inventories, mapping contracts and environmental monitoring, for tall and small fauna, wetlands and forestry amongst others, in addition to environmental and social impact studies for the entire complex.
The remote location required the project team to use such innovative measures as prefabrication and three dimensional modeling to keep the job moving forward. Electricity produced by the Romaine complex will be brought onto the Hydro-Quebec grid via new transmission lines with switchyards built at the generating stations.
Construction on the site began in 2009, the first commissioning of the project is scheduled for 2014, and overall project completion is scheduled for 2020.