New transformers planned for Wainfleet
Hydro One will build two new transformation stations in Wainfleet if a staff report on a road use agreement is passed by township council tonight.
The reports says in 2014, Hydro One proposed an upgrade to the existing substation on Feeder Road, just west of Sideroad 20. At the time, residents in the area were opposed to the upgrade, which was needed to replace the aging substation.
It says Hydro One considered the feedback from council and staff and has now proposed an alternative plan to provide service to the township that would see a redistribution of the central feed into three separate locations. The new proposal will help Hydro One redistribute feed sources from multiple directions and allow for potential back feeding of the system during isolated power outages that may occur or a failure of a single system if it were ever to occur, the report says.
“The present location along Feeder Road will be upgraded with an underground vault with a surface mounted transformer that will provide a smaller infrastructure base and will allow the elimination of fencing and the existing towers with new poles located further from the roadway and provide a safer area for the public.”
The vault area required for the installation of the underground units, says the report, would require an excavation area approximately 10 metres long by eight metres wide. It would include the granular backfill area and installation area of the vault, and the depth of the excavation is under two metres.
“The second proposed location would be to install a new underground feed into a vault and a pad mount transformer on Clarendon Road west of Wills Road. The third location would be to install a new underground feed into a vault and a pad mount transformer on Green Road South road allowance on the south side of Forks Road.”
The new transformers — approximately 2.5 metres tall — will eliminate the installation of a fenced in area and will be protected from the road side with pillars, says the report.
“Due to the installation dimensions and the nature and purpose of the project; which will be installed within the township right of way, staff recommends that a road use agreement be put in place to allow for the installation as well as to assist the township for any future mitigation measures and liability that may be associated with the project.”