Niagara Tunnel hits halfway milestone
Posted January 18, 2012 12:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
One of the largest renewable energy projects of its kind is nearly complete now that half of a tunnel under Niagara Falls, Ont., is lined with concrete, the province announced Wednesday.
The Niagara Tunnel Project is expected to supply 160,000 homes with green power by 2013.
Water from the Niagara River will flow through the 10.2-kilometre long and 14-metre wide tunnel to the Sir Adam Beck generating stations.
While the province touted the construction milestone on Wednesday, critics have in the past pointed out that the project is over budget and four years behind schedule.
Despite this, Ontario Energy Minister Chris Bentley insists the average consumer will only pay 50 cents per month to pay for the pipeline’s construction.
Big Becky, the world’s largest hard rock boring machine, finished digging out the tunnel in May.
“The Niagara tunnel is an investment in our future that will provide Ontario with clean, renewable energy for more than 100 years,” Ontario Power Generation president Tom Mitchell said in a statement Wednesday. “What’s equally impressive is that the men and women who are building this project have worked safely under extremely difficult and challenging conditions. That’s a testimony to the quality and skill of Ontario’s workforce.”
The province said the project has created 400 jobs and pumped about $1 billion into the Niagara Region .
