On Thursday, officials from the city, Alberta government and Enmax Power celebrated the opening of the electricity provider’s new No. 1 Substation at 830 9th Ave. S.W. The $240-million facility is the largest transmission and distribution infrastructure project in Enmax’s history, an official with the wholly owned subsidiary said.
New substation to power half of downtown
The new substation will accept high-voltage electricity from a power plant and transform it to a lower voltage before feeding it through downtown’s transmission lines, providing power to more than 20,000 customers. Greg Retzer, executive vice-president of Enmax Power, said the substation will provide power to about half of downtown’s residences and businesses.
“If you ever have an opportunity to work around some of the old equipment, quite frankly, it’s scary,” Retzer told reporters. “It’s old, it’s noisy and it’s quite violent when it operates. The new equipment … essentially just provides downtown Calgary higher reliability.”
Replacing a century-old facility
The new facility, located in the former Roadhouse nightclub’s parking lot, replaces Calgary’s original substation, just across the street. The former substation was in operation for more than 100 years, having first been electrified in 1912. The facility was used to power Calgary’s first street lights and streetcar system, and went on to provide power to the city’s downtown for more than a century, with modernizations in the 1960s and ’70s.
Although the new substation will perform a similar function as the original, Retzer said its newer equipment and systems are much safer, while operating on a smaller footprint than the old building. The 35,000-square-foot building includes six high-voltage transmission lines and 24 medium-voltage network feeder lines, according to the province’s major capital projects website.
Symbol of Calgary’s growth
It is also a symbol of Calgary’s ongoing growth in both population and electricity demand, according to Calgary’s mayor. “Most people will never think about a substation, and that is exactly the point,” Mayor Jeromy Farkas said at a news conference. “The best infrastructure is there when you need it; it works every hour of every day.”
“And as Calgary continues to grow toward two-million people, reliable infrastructure is not optional. Every new home, every new business, every office tower, every train, every Stampede tent and every innovation depends on dependable electricity. That’s why this project matters.”
Project timeline and funding
Enmax Power applied to the Alberta Utilities Commission in 2019 to replace the original substation. The utility received approval for the project in 2021, with construction starting in 2023. The $240-million cost will be amortized over a long period of time through customers’ electricity rates, Retzer said.
