Bruce Power on Sept. 19 successfully synchronized the 750 MW Unit 1 to Ontario’s electricity grid, generating power from the unit for the first time in 15 years.

“This is a significant achievement for Bruce Power and another tangible milestone that the Restart project is nearing completion and we are close to securing eight units of operation,” said Duncan Hawthorne, president and CEO.

With first synchronization now complete, final planned commissioning activities, including safety system shutdown testing, will be carried out on Unit 1. Unit 2 is on track to return to operations in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The return to service of Units 1 and 2 will bring the Bruce Power site back to its eight-unit capacity, doubling the number of operational units from 10 years ago when the company began its multi-year revitalization program to make it the largest nuclear generating facility in the world. Prior to this investment, half of the units on the site were laid up.

Bruce Power’s 2,300-acre site houses the Bruce A and B generating stations, which each hold four CANDU reactors. Prior to the restart of Unit 1, six of those units were operational and producing more than 4,700 MW. The plant generates about 25 percent of Ontario’s electricity.

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