Manitoba Hydro announced on Wednesday, July 8, 2020, that they will be decommissioning the Selkirk Generating Station after 60 years of use.
Completed in 1960 as a coal fired thermal generating station it was converted to natural gas in 2002.
The station was used an an emergency supply of electricity for southern Manitoba during cold months but with the completion of Bipole III and the Keeyask Generating Station projected to produce power this fall it is no longer needed.
Although the station has been used once a month to keep staff proficient in its operation, it has not been used to supply power to Manitoba Hydro’s system since February of 2017.
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“Our system is such now that it no longer makes economic or environmental sense for Manitoba Hydro to maintain and operate the Selkirk station,” said Shane Mailey, Vice President of Operations at Manitoba Hydro. “We can supply more than enough power with our hydroelectric stations. We no longer need the extra capacity Selkirk Generating Station provides.”
Thirty-three people work at the station and Manitoba Hydro says that some will be redeployed while others will remain at the station to operate critical functions such as security, maintenance, heating and fire protection.
Hydro says that decommissioning of the station will take several years and no decision has been made about what to do with the physical footprint of the plant or the surrounding property.
© News4.ca 2020
