Hydro One is holding a series of open houses to gather input from community members on a new 300-kilometer transmission line and corridor running from Sudbury to Barrie.
“Long-term electricity demand in the north is expected to increase rapidly, and accordingly, at Hydro One, we’re making the investment to build in this critical infrastructure to create a strong and secure electricity system that’ll help to support growth for local home-grown businesses and unlock new generation opportunities, especially in northern Ontario,” explained Sonny Karunakaran, Vice President of Strategic Projects and Partnerships with Hydro One.
He said the Sudbury/Barrie transmission line is a priority project consisting of a single 500-kilovolt circuit from the Essa Transformer Station near Barrie to the Hanmer Transformer Station in Sudbury.
Karunakaran said the new transmission line will help strengthen the “north/south electricity backbone that presently exists, and what it’ll do is increase the actual reliability and the capacity on that north/south backbone, and what that means is that it allows for new developments in the north, such as the fast-growing industry that’s there,” he said referring to industries such as mining.
The line will not only provide extra capacity and reliability but also the opportunity for more generation. Karunakaran said the exact route it will follow has not yet been determined, and community input is being sought to help inform those project details.
“We want to be able to understand what’s important to the local community and get feedback and input that we should give consideration to as we’re working through the next steps of the project, which is to develop the various route options that we could use to actually build this line,” said Karunakaran, adding that nobody knows the area better than the local communities themselves.
The line will be housed in a new transmission corridor. “So the width of the transmission corridor for a 500 kV line is approximately 75 metres wide. “We are developing two transmission lines and building one right now, so we’re going to be developing and doing the assessment for something that’s going to be ultimately 150 meters wide, and we’re going to be constructing one of them right now,” said Karunakaran. “And the reason we’re doing this, we’ve been firstly directed to do so, but it’s so that in the future, when a new transmission line is needed, all the development works and activities have been done, and it allows the line to be built faster and put into service when the power is needed at that time.”
Karunakaran said the project is in its beginning stages. Later this year, a series of routes will be proposed, and another open house will be held to share the options with the public. A preferred route is expected to be chosen in 2027. Then, the Environmental Assessment process to establish the route will be completed, along with the required regulatory approvals.
Karunakaran said ideally, construction of the new transmission line from Barrie to Sudbury will begin in 2029, with the line going live by the end of 2032.
OPEN HOUSES
- Sudbury (Hanmer): Wednesday, April 15, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Centennial Arena
4333 Centennial Drive. Hanmer
- Bracebridge: Thursday, April 16, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Bracebridge Sportsplex
110 Clearbrook Trail, Bracebridge
- Virtual:
Tuesday, April 21, from 6 to 7 p.m. Now available for registration.
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