Pinawa Generating Station was the first hydraulic plant on the Winnipeg River and first to operate all year long under extreme cold weather and icing conditions. The station was a Winnipeg Electric Railway Co. development. Pinawa operated with a head of 14 m. Pinawa Generating Station was retired from service in 1951.
Construction of the station was between 1902 and 1906. When first commissioned the station had 6 units with a total capacity of 8 MW. In 1907 units 7, 8, 9 were added which raised the capacity to 14 MW. In 1912 the capacity was re-rated to 22 MW.
Procurement, construction, and commissioning had a lot of local involvement. A railway and a town were built for the construction. Design engineering was provided by an engineer from New York.
Pinawa: Post Decommissioning Aerial
Pinawa: Post Decommissioning Panoramic
Construction Photo Gallery
Courtesy the Manitoba Electrical Museum
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Pinawa: Dwg General Key Plan
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Pinawa: Dwg Plan of Winnipeg River Weirs
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Pinawa: Dwg Powerhouse Plan View
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Pinawa: Excavated Intake Channel 1905 05 20
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Pinawa: Intake Channel Excavation 1905 10 20
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Pinawa: Intake Channel Control Structure
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Pinawa: Construction Camp Building Homes
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Pinawa: Powerhouse Half Constructed Downstream View 1905 05 18
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Pinawa: Powerhouse Half Constructed Upstream View 1905 06 27
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Pinawa: McCormick Turbine Intake Tube
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Pinawa: Intake Tubes 1905 05 27
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Pinawa: Powerhouse Intake Structure Downstream
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Pinawa: Powerhouse Intake Structure Upstream
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Pinawa: Powerhouse Downstream View
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Pinawa: Break Time Refreshments
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Pinawa: Group Photo Tenting
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Pinawa: Turbine Installation
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Pinawa: Turbine Installation
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Pinawa: Work with Horse Power 1907 05 28
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Pinawa: 60 kV Transmission Tower with Intrepid Climber
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Pinawa: Sitting On Trash Spillway
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Pinawa: Transformer Room & Crew
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Pinawa: Intake Structure with Trashracks
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Pinawa: Winnipeg River Main Wier 1908 01 10
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Pinawa: Overflow Spillway in Operation
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Pinawa: Group Photo for Initial Opening
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Pinawa: Generator Room 1908 01 10
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Pinawa: Control Floor with Operator
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Pinawa: Transformer Gallery 1908 01 10
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Pinawa: Transformer Gallery & Blacksmith Shop
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Pinawa: Spillway Downstream in Winter 1908 01 10
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Pinawa: View from Intakegate Structure 1908 01 10
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Pinawa: Spillway Downstream in Winter 1908 01 10
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Pinawa: South Side Powerhouse in Winter
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Pinawa: Aerial View During Operations
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Pinawa: Fred Stark Pearson, Engineer 1905
References
Manitoba Hydro History and Timeline - Manitoba Hydro
Pinawa Construction
Historic Pinawa Generating Station Recognized as Engineering Milestone - IEEE Canada
