Toronto Hydro tackling aging infrastructure
Toronto Hydro is in the middle of a massive capital upgrade program, as much of its equipment was installed in the 1950s and 1960s – back when the first astronauts landed on the moon.
The company is not alone in dealing with aging infrastructure: Toronto’s roads, transit system and water service are all facing the same issues.
As the electricity company for Canada’s largest city, Toronto Hydro is proactively investing in its power grid, with the end goal of having fewer outages and faster restoration times.
Right now, the company attributes 40 per cent of outages to aging equipment. Sometimes Toronto Hydro is able to bring power back quickly, but sometimes an outage can last hours if the damage is severe or the equipment is so old that replacement parts aren’t available anymore. It’s a major inconvenience for its customers and puts Toronto Hydro in the position of reacting to an outage, instead of proactively preventing it.
Improving the power grid comes at a cost – both time and money. But the company says it’s worth it for customers.
Since 2006, Toronto Hydro has invested almost $4.1 billion into the grid, but there’s still much work to do. Renewing the system for the next generation is expected to take more than a decade. Toronto is a world-class city, and its residents deserve a world-class grid.
PROBLEM-SOLVING WITH INNOVATIVE GRID SOLUTIONS
Toronto is the fourth largest city in North America and is home to 2.8 million people, 14 large hospitals, eight universities and colleges, and functions as the financial district for the country.
Delivering power to a dense and growing city like Toronto can be challenging. The grid is aging, while Toronto Hydro’s crews manoeuvre through a congested, urban environment where real estate for new infrastructure is limited. Still, the company has an important job to do, and its commitment to maintaining service for the world-class city it serves is unwavering.
Doing this at a time that’s seeing unprecedented growth – there are 129 new buildings under development or approved right now – is not an easy task. Everyone wants to be hooked up to the grid, but there is limited capacity.
To address this pressure, Toronto Hydro is turning towards innovation. The company is currently building an underground transformer station – only the second of its kind in Canada – in the downtown core. Copeland Station is being built to help serve the explosion of condos on the city’s waterfront and, when complete, will be able to power 70 towers.
Toronto Hydro is also looking at energy storage – which operate like big batteries – to help extend the life of its equipment, reduce strain on the grid and provide backup power during outages. The best example of this is the Hydrostor pilot project, which is using underwater technology to store compressed air in massive balloons in Lake Ontario. When needed, that air is turned back into electricity and can be used during short power outages or during times of high demand.
So whether it’s building new infrastructure underground to support load growth or stretching the life of equipment with engineered solutions, Toronto Hydro’s customers are at the centre of its decisions. The company is working hard to ensure that power will be flowing reliably for years to come.