< Power networks

Power networks/Canada

This page covers mapping related to power infrastructure in Canada.

Background

Canada's power grid is divided into various asynchronous grids operating under a common frequency of 60 Hz, and are composed of more than 160,000 kilometres (99,000 mi) of power lines. The Canadian power grids are integrated with the United States power grids through interconnections. Major grids include the Western Interconnection in Alberta and British Columbia, the Eastern Interconnection in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, and the Quebec Interconnection in Quebec. Labrador (areas not served by transmission lines coming out of Churchill Falls), and the territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut are served by smaller grids that do not interconnect with the rest of the Canadian grid. The three wide-area grids are connected by HVDC back-to-back converters, variable-frequency transformers and autotransformers.

Voltages

Voltages used in Canada differs by province or territory, but the most common are:

  • 735 kV (Quebec)
  • 500 kV (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario)
  • 315 kV (Quebec), 345 kV (Nova Scotia)
  • 230 kV (Manitoba; New Brunswick, Ontario; Saskatchewan; Montana-Alberta Transmission Line; Quebec)/ 240 kV (Alberta)
  • 138 kV (Alberta, on AltaLink and ENMAX lines; British Columbia; Manitoba; New Brunswick; Nova Scotia; Saskatchewan; Yukon) 144 kV (Alberta, on ATCO lines)
  • 115 kV (Manitoba; Northwest Territories; Ontario), 120 kV (Quebec)
  • 66 kV (Manitoba); 69 kV (Alberta, on AltaLink and ENMAX lines; British Columbia; Quebec), 72 kV (Alberta, on lines by ATCO and EPCOR; Saskatchewan),
  • 44 kV (Ontario), 49 kV (Quebec, on the Eastern Townships)
  • 24.94 kV (115, 120, 138 and 144 kV fed distribution) – Often spoken of as 25 kV. Most common rural distribution voltage. Only distribution voltage in Quebec
  • 13.8 kV (Ontario)
  • 12.47 kV (69 or 72 kV-fed distribution in Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan)
  • 4.16 kV, 6.6 kV (some large cities)

Progress

As of 2023, most major power lines have been mapped with the most important details, such as conductor count and voltage, but there still remain various power lines with no other tags, such as those imported from Canvec data. Distribution lines are sometimes mapped.

By province:

Tagging suggestions

This article is issued from Openstreetmap. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.