The Lakeview Generating Station is an Ontario Power Generation coal-burning station located just east of Port Credit, a community in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The four stacks of the station have been known as the Four Sisters, because the generating plant actually has eight boilers and two boilers are 'sistered' to a common stack. The station has been a landmark for years and has recently been shut down. The four stacks can be seen from as far away as Burlington to the west and downtown Toronto to the east. The station is just east of Lakeshore Road and Cawthra Road.
The Lakeview Generating Station is ceasing operations on April 30, 2005 after 43 years.
Following provincial government policy to phase out Ontario Power Generation’s six coal-fired generating stations by the end of 2007, Lakeview Generating Station is closing its doors on Saturday, April 30, 2005.
The first 300,000-kilowatt thermal-electric plant in Canada, Lakeview was also the first of its kind in the world, surpassed only by the Nanticoke Generating Station near Port Dover, in 1975. Since the first spadeful of earth was turned in June, 1958, Lakeview and its employees have made a highly significant contribution to the energy needs of the province, and particularly to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
During the late 1960s and 1970s, the station operated to full capacity as an eight-unit baseload plant, meeting about 17% of Ontario’s electricity needs. In the early 1980s, Lakeview continued to play an important role as a four-unit peaking plant, providing an adequate and reliable electricity supply when consumer demands were highest in the morning and around the dinner hour – and in the summer and winter. This role was especially critical on hot days when air conditioning use drove up electricity demand.
During the first half of the 20th century, most electricity produced in Ontario came from hydroelectric stations. But by the early 1950s, most large hydroelectric sites were already under development and new power sources were required to meet the province’s growing appetite for electricity.
On the north shore of Lake Ontario, in what is now the City of Mississauga, 52 hectares of land were earmarked for a new thermal-electric plant that would help meet Ontario’s power demands and even provide system reserves.
“The Lakeview Project” was underway by June, 1958, and quickly became a station of superlatives: its eight boilers were the largest ever installed in Canada; the 300,000 kilowatt generators the largest ever purchased by a Canadian utility; and its power transformers were the largest ever built in Canada.
On June 20, 1962, Ontario Premier John Robarts and Ontario Hydro chairman W. Ross Strike pushed the button to start up the first 300,000 kilowatt unit. At a cost of $274 million, Lakeview Generating Station had become the largest thermal-electric plant in the world.
Environmental improvements at Lakeview in recent years included recycling fly ash and safeguarding water quality. The station’s achievement of International Standards Organization ISO 14001 certification continued to demonstrate Lakeview’s commitment to environmental management through responsible operation at the highest standards.
• 1972: Research to remove SO2 from flue gases continues.
• 1981: Coal-cleaning project completes first of four years of testing.
• 1984: Launch of acid gas control program and commitment to cutting emissions in half by 1990.
• 1986: “War on acid gas emissions” continues as Lakeview tests limestone-injection scrubbing technology to further reduce emissions, and uses more low-sulphur coal.
• 1987: The prospect of a major equipment overhaul looms, along with new environmental restrictions. Ontario Hydro begins three-year study aimed at obtaining approval for acid gas control equipment at coal-fired generating stations.
• 1989: Hydro announces a major Lakeview rehabilitation between 1990 and 1994, including the addition of acid gas control equipment on all eight units.
• 1991: Revised plan for Lakeview includes complete rehabilitation for Units 5 and 6, and a reduced rehabilitation for Units 1 and 2; decision on remaining four units deferred.
• 1992: High-efficiency precipitators are installed on all four operating units, which combine with flue gas conditioning technology to capture more than 99% of flue gases.
• 1999: Lakeview receives ISO 14001 accreditation and announces new initiative to further reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
• 2001: Lakeview completes installation of new, low nitrogen oxide burners on all operating units, cutting nitrogen oxides emissions by 50% from the 1999 level.
• June 1, 1958: Construction begins on 52 hectares of land purchased from the City of Toronto
• July 24, 1959: Ontario Hydro announces the addition of a third and fourth 300,000 kilowatt generating unit to Lakeview by 1964
• 1961: Unit 1 produces first electricity on October 30
• 1962 – 1965: Units 2 – 4 in service
• 1967 – 1969: Units 5 – 8 in service
• 1969 – 1980s: On the waterfront of Lake Ontario, “The Four Sisters” – Lakeview’s four 146 meter concrete stacks – became a familiar navigational beacon for boats, ships and airplanes.
• Lakeview ran at its highest capacity as a baseload plant from the late 1960s to the early 1980s and met about 17% of the province’s energy needs. During this time, Lakeview played an important role in providing an around-the-clock, reliable supply of electricity to Ontario’s energy customers.
• 1980s: In 1980, as fuel alternatives such as nuclear units came on line at Pickering and Bruce, Lakeview’s role in the electricity marketplace changed. It transitioned to a four-unit peaking plant, due to its higher costs operating only when electricity demands were highest, or other generating units were not available. In 1986, the station began to use lower-sulphur coal to reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
• 1990 – 1993: $1.1 billion was invested in rehabilitation to increase efficiency and reliability, and the addition of acid gas control equipment to all eight units. By 1992, only four units had been overhauled when repairs were halted due to the changing future outlook and to a decline in the consumer use of energy, due to economic recession.
• 1993 – 2000: In January, 1993, reduced load forecasts resulted in the decommissioning of Units 3, 4, 7 and 8. In 1994, the plant returned to service as a four-unit peak-demand generating station, but with a much improved environmental performance. Lakeview continued to provide customers with a safe, reliable source of power when demand was highest, and became a key asset in times of uncertainty in the electricity marketplace. The station’s location in the GTA made its output invaluable to some of Ontario’s largest municipal utilities and industries –especially when nuclear and other generation was not available.
• 1998 – 2002: In December, 1998, Ontario Hydro announced a joint venture to pursue the development of a 550 MW natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant at Lakeview. The venture was dissolved in May, 2000. In March, 2001, the provincial government announced that Lakeview would be required to stop burning coal by April, 2005.
• 2003 – 2005: In October, 2003, the provincial government confirmed that Lakeview would close on April 30, 2005, with the remainder of OPG’s fossil-fuelled plants removed from service by the end of 2007.
• June 12, 2006: "The Four Sisters" were successfully imploded in order of east to west, falling to the east with a stack toppling every 4 seconds. Hundreds of spectators came to a nearby park to observe the demolition. Helicopters filled the sky, each taking footage of the event.
50% of Lakeview’s total generation was produced between 1962 and 1976.
Over Lakeview’s lifetime as a coal-fired facility, its employees generated more than 215 terrawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity for the people of Ontario. By comparison, the output would have been sufficient to provide all of Ontario’s electricity needs for approximately 1.4 years (based on 2004 153.4 TWh for Ontario).
The station was shutdown in April 2005. The closing is said to have the same impact as removing 30,000 cars off the road every day. The station's four stacks (The Four Sisters) were imploded on Monday June 12, 2006 at 7:30 EST.
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