Rankine Generating Station
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{For| other hydroelectric generating plants at Niagara Falls|List of Niagara Falls hydroelectric generating plants}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Rankine Generating Station
| image = Niagara Parks Power Station 2023a.jpg
| location = {{comma separated entries|1=|2=Ontario|3=Canada}}
| nearest_city = Niagara Falls
| beginning_label =
| built = 1905
| original_use = Hydro generating station
| current_use = Tourist museum on hydro power generation
| architect = William Grace Company / Hamilton Bridge Works Company
| governing_body = Niagara Parks Commission
| designation1 =
| designation1_date =
| caption = The station building in 2023
}}
The Rankine Generating Station is a former hydro-electric generating station along the Canadian side of the Niagara River in Niagara Falls, Ontario, slightly downstream from the older Toronto Power Generating Station. It was built in for the Canadian Niagara Power Company and named for company's founder William Birch Rankine (b. 1858), a New York City (and later of Niagara Falls) lawyer originally from Geneva, New York who died three days after (in Grafton, New Hampshire) the station opened in 1905 and renamed in 1927.{{cite web | url=http://www.niagarafrontier.com/rankine.html | title=Niagara Falls - William Birch Rankine Power Station}} Acquired by Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation in 1950 and in 2002,{{citation|author=FortisOntario |title=Historical Background |url=http://www.fortisontario.com/company.asp |access-date=2010-12-28}} the station became a wholly owned subsidiary of FortisOntario (and part of Canadian owned Fortis Inc.).{{cite web |url=http://www.fortisontario.com/services_cnp.asp |url-status=unfit |archive-date=Aug 6, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030806000352/http://www.fortisontario.com/services_cnp.asp |title=Distribution and Transmission |language=en |access-date=16 August 2023}} It was decommissioned in 2006.
It reopened in July 2021 as a museum.{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/article-niagara-falls-newest-attraction-niagara-parks-power-station-offers/|title=Niagara Falls' newest attraction, Niagara Parks Power Station, offers visitors a closer look at its historical power|last=Greenwood Davis|first=Heather|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=19 May 2021|access-date=20 May 2021}}
Generating capacity
The facility, also known as The Canadian Niagara Power Generating Station, contained eleven vertical axle, 25 Hertz generators rated at 8320 kVA each for a total generating capacity of 100 MVA. When opening in 1905, the plant was equipped with only five turbines and generators. The generators were based on a design by Nikola Tesla. Peak capacity was achieved in 1924 when additional 25-cycle generator units were installed. The mechanism consisted of "11 vertical steel shafts, each running from a
turbine in the deep pit to a generator 130 feet above". Power was transmitted to a transformer station in another Niagara Falls, Ontario location via underground cables.{{cite web |url=https://www.hydroreview.com/wp-content/uploads/content/dam/hydroworld/site-images/2404_HallofFame.pdf|title=William Birch Rankine Generating Station - Powerhouse in the Park|date=1 July 2004 |publisher=Hydro Review |access-date=26 October 2019 }}{{cite news|title=A relic of Ontario's hydro glory days is about to open to the public|date=26 October 2019|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/10/25/a-relic-of-ontarios-hydro-glory-days-is-about-to-open-to-the-public.html|work=Toronto Star|access-date=26 October 2019}}
A September 2019 report provided these additional specifics:{{cite web |url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/doors-open-ontario-featured-event-at-the-canadian-niagara-power-generating-station-814293895.html|title=Doors Open Ontario Featured Event at the Canadian Niagara Power Generating Station|publisher=Newswire/Ontario Heritage Trust|access-date=26 October 2019}}
Housing 11 vertical penstocks, water from the Niagara River would enter through the forebay and drop 180 ft (54.8 metres) before being expelled into a 2,000 ft (609.6 metres) tunnel that emptied into the lower Niagara River, right at the base of the Horseshoe Falls.
The station was licensed to generate a maximum of 76.4MW of 25 Hz AC current using its eleven generators. By the 1950s, most other Ontario power plants were producing 60 Hz power but this station was allowed to continue at 25 Hz since there was adequate demand.{{cite web |url=http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/mcsele/interest/rankine-generating-station/|title=Rankine Generating Station|date=1 March 2009 |publisher=Technology Niagara |access-date=26 October 2019 }}
Station closure
File:Niagara Parks Power Station 2023k.jpg
File:Niagara Parks Power Station 2023o.jpg
By 2003, the plant was no longer used constantly and was providing power on demand, typically on week days. In 2005, the station ceased operation and was officially decommissioned the following year.{{cite web |url=http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/mcsele/interest/rankine-generating-station/|title=Rankine Generating Station|date=1 March 2009 |publisher=Technology Niagara |access-date=26 October 2019 }} The Beaux-Arts architecture station was handed over to the Niagara Parks Commission in 2009.{{citation |author=Fortis Ontario |title=Historic Niagara Electrical Generating Station celebrates 100 years of generating power |date=2005-07-27 |url=http://www.fortisontario.com/assets/news/rankine100.pdf |access-date=2010-12-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711020607/http://www.fortisontario.com/assets/news/rankine100.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-11 }} Reasons for the closure were:
- The station produced 25 Hz power, and would have needed to be retrofitted to the North American standard of 60 Hz
- The turbines and generators had drifted out of alignment due to movement of the rock on which the station was built
In 2009 Rankine station's water rights, along with those of two other nearby generating stations, were reallocated to the Sir Adam Beck stations a few kilometres downstream (see also Niagara Tunnel Project).
Re-opening as a tourism site
File:StarWarsMainThemeOnTeslaCoil.webm performed on a tesla coil for a tour at the Rankine Generating Station, 2024|left]]
Photographs and video clips published in 2012 indicated that much of the interior of the plant was in excellent condition.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIbJ5zoQxJw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/gIbJ5zoQxJw |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|title=RANKINE STATION - Step Into The Past|date=12 December 2012 |publisher=Youtube |access-date=26 October 2019}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |url=https://jamiesarner.com/toronto-life/2012/07/derelict-power-stations-photo-essay/|title=Derelict Power Stations Photo Essay|date=15 July 2012 |publisher=James Sarner |access-date=26 October 2019}} In October 2019, the Niagara Parks Commission publicized plans to re-open the facility in 2021 as a historic industrial site for the purposes of tourism. A report by a journalist who visited the station indicated that the interior remained pristine, with generators painted blue and "doors and enormous hinges made of copper, mosaic tile floors, a beautiful clock at one end of the main hall, marble control panels with old school switches that date to the 1920s, and fittings and other instruments".{{cite news|title=A relic of Ontario's hydro glory days is about to open to the public|date=26 October 2019|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/10/25/a-relic-of-ontarios-hydro-glory-days-is-about-to-open-to-the-public.html|work=Toronto Star|access-date=26 October 2019}}
William B. Rankine Generating Station Bridge
William B. Rankine Generating Station Bridge is a five span stone arch bridge that cross the water inlet to the power station north of Fraser Hill. The main bridge carries traffic on Niagara Parkway and smaller pedestrian bridge is located at the mouth of the outlet on the shores of the Niagara River. The bridge was rehabilitated in a project that ran from 2012 to 2014; it now has four wide traffic lanes and a separate pedestrian lane.{{cite web |url=https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/projects/2014/01/modern-concrete-gives-bridge-a-second-life-dcn059767w|title=Modern concrete gives bridge a second life|date=1 January 2014|publisher=Daily Commercial News|access-date=26 October 2019 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{stack|{{Portal|Canada|Water|Renewable energy}}}}
- [https://www.niagaraparks.com/visit/attractions/niagara-parks-power-station Niagara Parks Power Station] at Niagara Parks Commission
- [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tunnel-niagara-parks-power-station Tunnel at Niagara Parks Power Station], Atlas Obscura, 2023
- [http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/results.asp?sk=browse&q=295&key=82&start=1&pp=100&db=5 Digital Images of the Canadian Niagara Power Plant] Niagara Falls Public Library (Ont.)
- [http://vanishingpoint.ca/rankine-generating-station The William B. Rankine Generating Station of the Canadian Niagara Power Company ]
- [http://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/5024 Canadian Niagara Power Company Fonds RG 170] Brock University Library Digital Repository
{{coord|43.0745|N|79.0787|W|display=title}}
- [https://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/5132 Canadian Niagara Power Company Glass Slides] Brock University Library Digital Repository
Category:Buildings and structures in Niagara Falls, Ontario
Category:Hydroelectric power stations in Ontario
Category:1905 establishments in Ontario
Category:2006 disestablishments in Ontario
Rankine Generating Station Bridge
Category:Former hydroelectric power stations