Hydro-Québec will delay the start of construction work for the refurbishment of Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station from 2011 until 2012. As part of its regular maintenance program, the company completed an annual production shutdown of the facility at the beginning of this month and concluded that the equipment is in good working order.

The decision to postpone the start of refurbishing work was taken in light of revised schedules for the refurbishment of CANDU-type generating stations now under way at Point Lepreau (New Brunswick) and in Wolsong (South Korea). Furthermore, the postponement will make it possible to obtain assurances regarding the identity of the future owner of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited  (AECL), the main supplier and contractor in the Gentilly-2 refurbishment project.

Hydro-Québec will continue to invest in regular operations at Gentilly- 2 as it continues to carefully monitor the refurbishment work under way at Point Lepreau and Wolsong, in order to benefit as much as possible from the experience gained.

Gentilly-2, the only nuclear facility in Québec, has been producing reliable, safe, non-intermittent and zero-emission power for 25 years. Located near major load centres in the St. Lawrence Valley, Gentilly-2 plays an important role in maintaining the stability and reliability of Hydro-Québec’s transmission grid.   

With an installed capacity of 675 MW, the generating station has an annual output of approximately 5 TWh—enough power to supply more than 270,000 homes or an agglomeration such as the metropolitan area of Québec. Gentilly-2 represents nearly 3% of Hydro-Québec's generating fleet.