All attendees showed tremendous support for the positive environmental steps taken toward meeting Alberta's growing energy needs.

The Oldman River Dam is one of many built for irrigation purposes in Southern Alberta. During construction, which was completed in 1992, provisions were made for the addition of a hydroelectric generating facility to one of two water-diversion tunnels. In 1999, ATCO Power was selected by Alberta Environment to develop this hydroelectric potential.

From the beginning, Acres provided engineering services to support the ATCO development proposal, the development itself, final design and construction of the 32-MW run-of-river plant. It consists of a penstock and two horizontal Francis turbines with GE generators. The plant is operated remotely. Water flow will be controlled by Alberta Environment, allowing year-round generation with peak output between May and September.

The powerhouse is located at the outlet of the existing east diversion tunnel; the west tunnel is unaffected. Acres carried out 3D hydrodynamic modeling to determine whether the use of an existing hollow cone valve for pressure relief would have a detrimental effect downstream. This study, together with others by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Alberta Environment, confirmed that the hydroelectric project will cause no significant environmental concerns.

ATCO Power has an interest in seven natural gas and three coal-burning generating plants in Alberta, and is a partner in a 150-MW wind-power development in Saskatchewan. The Oldman River generating station is the company's first hydroelectric project.

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