Rapide-Blanc generating station

The Rapide-Blanc generating station is a hydroelectric facility, comprising a reservoir, a dam and a hydroelectric plant. It is located on the Saint-Maurice River about north of the city of La Tuque, in Quebec, in Canada. Built between 1930 and 1934 by the Shawinigan Water & Power Company (SWPC), it is the third hydroelectric facility on this river (from the source of the river). The plant has been operated by Hydro-Québec since it was acquired from the SWPC in 1963, as part of the nationalisation of electric power companies in Quebec. The plant has a rated power of . “Rapide-Blanc” (English: White Rapid) was deemed to be the most dangerous rapids of Saint-Maurice River. The Atikamekw preferred to use a series of 11 portages from Coucoucache to the mouth of the Vermillon River (La Tuque), upstream of La Trenche Generating Station, through the Coucoucache Creek. This hydroelectric dam was built on the site of the former "Rapide Blanc" whose designation goes back to at at least the mid-nineteenth century. After the construction of the dam, only one of the old rapids remains (downstream of the dam), designated in French "Rapides de la Tête du Rapide Blanc" (Rapids of the Head of White Rapids). The name "Rapide-Blanc" (White Rapid) was also given to the rail stop located 12 km south of the village. In 1928, the SWPC acquired water rights on six of the seven sites that could be developed for power generation on the upper Saint-Maurice River, upstream of Grand-Mère. The company signed a long-term lease for using and developing the site during 75 years, to ensure it would retain the exclusivity of hydroelectric development on the whole basin. Under agreements with the Government of Quebec, the site of Rapide-Blanc, located north of La Tuque was the first site due to be developed. However, the Great Depression of the 1930s forced the SWPC to revise its forecast of the growth of electricity demand downwards. Under its agreement with the Government of Quebec, the SWPC had pledged to start construction of a facility with a minimum power rating of by 1930, for a planned commissioning in 1933.