Stewart-Keno Transmission Line Rehabilitation

completed

The project will replace and upgrade the 1950s transmission infrastructure to support increased transmission capacity for new and existing customers. The current power supplied is through a 69kV isolated hydro based power grid located north of Mayo, Yukon. The energy coming from the grid would be primarily provided by renewable hydro generation which will result in eliminating the need for local electrical customers to generate their own power using fossil-fuel generators. As a result, there will be an increase in customers who can access hydropower leading to less reliance on diesel generators. The replacement powerline will be constructed to operate at 138kV voltage in order to meet the needs of existing and new electrical customers in the region without significant use of fossil fuels. The new line will also be designed and constructed to withstand climate change impacts. The project involves replacement of L180, a 31 km powerline with a new higher voltage powerline and upgrading of S251 transmission substation located at Stewart Crossing with the addition of a Static VAR Compensator (SVC). The new powerline will have more than four times the capacity of the existing powerline than the current one. The project will result in an increase of generation of clean energy in that it will result in an increase of hydropower transmission capacity in the transmission line from 5 MW to 21 MW. This increase in capacity will allow for new customers to be added to the grid as well.