Hydro One has chosen Route 3 as the popular possibility for the St. Thomas Line challenge because it impacts fewer environmentally delicate options, at-risk species and residential properties than any of the opposite choices.
Routes had been evaluated based mostly on information from environmental subject research and suggestions from native communities to know the benefits and challenges of every possibility based mostly on 4 standards classes, defined Kathleen McCorriston, vice-president of portfolio administration in a media briefing. The classes are pure surroundings; socio-economic surroundings; Indigenous tradition, values and land use; and technical and price components.
“Route 3 scored the very best in all 4 classes and in suggestions we acquired,” mentioned McCorriston.
“There are nonetheless a number of steps earlier than we arrive at our goal building date in late 2025 and our goal in service date of 2027. Following our open homes in November, our subsequent milestone is predicted after we develop and launch the draft environmental examine report back to the general public for assessment and remark.”
The roughly 18-kilometre, 230-kilovolt double-circuit St. Thomas Line will energy the electrical car (EV) battery cell plant owned by PowerCo Canada, a subsidiary of Volkswagen. The plant is predicted to create as much as 3,000 jobs and 30,000 oblique jobs.
“Ontario is present process a profound and speedy transformation as we electrify our economic system,” McCorriston defined. “As soon as constructed, the road will energy a key hyperlink in that offer chain. When full, PowerCo Canada’s EV energy plant would be the greatest EV plant in north America and the largest manufacturing facility of any sort in Canada.”
Line will run from London to St. Thomas
Route 3 begins at Innovation Park in London, crosses Freeway 401 roughly 500 metres west of the Veterans Memorial Parkway and travels south beside Outdated Victoria Highway. It connects into the proposed Yarmouth Yards Industrial Park in St. Thomas into the deliberate Centennial Transformer Station.
In January Hydro One commenced a Class Environmental Evaluation (EA).
The examine space for the routes thought-about present options similar to creeks, constructed up or developed areas, highways, railway tracks and different transmission traces to offer a variety of potential route choices.
“We then used an strategy rooted in information and suggestions to determine the route that will finest defend the pure surroundings and scale back or decrease disruptions to residents and enterprise homeowners,” mentioned McCorriston.
“Route 3 minimizes the necessity for vegetation elimination, has the bottom affect on species in danger, has the bottom affect on vital wildlife habitat and has the bottom affect on designated pure areas similar to vital woodlands and wetlands.
“Specifically it avoids the Westminster Wetland Complicated and the Tennants Pond environmentally delicate space. Each of those would have been impacted by Route 1.”
Socio financial elements had been additionally thought-about.
“Route 3 was chosen as a result of it has the fewest results on residential properties. It has no buildings within the right-of-way and it has fewest results on supply water safety areas,” mentioned McCorriston. “It additionally has the fewest results on constructed heritage sources and cultural heritage landscapes…It additionally crosses fewer personal wells than different alternate options.”
The popular route additionally scored the very best in technical feasibility and price.
“It had the fewest pipeline crossings and the fewest impacted properties,” McCorriston famous. “Route 3 avoids conflicts with main water infrastructure together with the Huron and Lake Erie major water provide system pipeline. It additionally offered the very best location for crossing Kettle Creek, essentially the most difficult crossing for this challenge and the situation of an present 500 KV transmission line. The design for Route 3 additionally parallels a piece of an present transmission line however we anticipate no outages to prospects can be required throughout the building of this line.”
Subsequent step: detailed design
With the popular route chosen detailed design can start.
“Our engineers and planners will additional refine our plans and consider results on residences and companies, location, top and clearance of our transmission towers, rights of means, width, environmental constraints, typography and soil situations and building actions,” mentioned McCorriston.
Engagement can be ongoing all through the lifecycle of the challenge, she added.
“We’ll proceed working with Indigenous communities, native residents, impacted property homeowners and stakeholders to refine the route and decrease the impacts.”
Open homes can be held Nov. 13 at Belmont Area and Neighborhood Centre in Belmont and Nov. 14 at St. Anne’s Parish Centre in St. Thomas from 3 to eight p.m.
