Lakeview Generating Station - Timeline

Timeline

• June 1, 1958: Construction begins on 52 hectares of land purchased from Toronto Township

• 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

• 1965–1969: Units 5 – 8 in service

• On the waterfront of Lake Ontario, “The Four Sisters” – Lakeview’s four 146 meter (sometimes quoted as 150 meters) 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 the 1980s, as nuclear units came on line at Pickering and Bruce, Lakeview’s role in the electricity marketplace changed. It transitioned to a 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 plans for the remainder of OPG’s coal-fuelled plants removed from service by the end of 2007, this plan never met its deadline and only demolished the Lakeview plant before 2008.

• June 12, 2006: "The Four Sisters" were successfully imploded by Murray Demolition LP, in order of east to west, falling to the east with a stack toppling every 4 seconds. Over a thousand spectators came to a nearby park to observe the demolition. Helicopters filled the sky, each taking footage of the event.

• June 28, 2007: The rest of the building was demolished at 11:04am EST.