Manitoba Hydro's Keeyask project starts generating power

Manitoba Hydro's Keeyask Generating Station has started producing renewable electricity in Manitoba, six months ahead of the control schedule.

Six more units will be added to the hydropower plant in coming months, contractor Bechtel said in a March 8 statement. The project has a total planned capacity of 695 MW.

The power plant is being developed in partnership with the Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake First Nation; York Factory First Nation and Fox Lake Cree Nation. The plant is located on the Nelson River and within the ancestral homeland of the four partner First Nations.

Keeyask will help Manitoba Hydro meet its export commitments in Canada and the U.S. It is one of Canada's three large hydroelectric power projects, which have suffered from schedule delays and cost overruns.