OPG Ontario Lennox 2 oil/gas unit back in service

HOUSTON Oct 22 (Reuters) - Ontario Power Generation's 535-megawatt Unit 2 at the Lennox oil- and natural gas-fired power station in Ontario was back in service by early Monday, the province's Independent Electricity System Operator said in a report.

The unit had been shut since Oct. 17.

The 2,140 MW Lennox station is located on the north shore of Lake Ontario near Kingston about 160 miles (250 km) east of Toronto. There are four 535 MW units at the station.

Unit 4 shut by Aug. 30 and will likely return in late October. Other units were available for service, but not operating for economic reasons.

Lennox is one of the more expensive stations in OPG's stable, making it one of the last dispatched and first to be shut down.

OPG operates the station under a must-run contract with the Independent Electricity System Operator because the unit is needed for reliability reasons.

The company continues to operate the plant under the must-run contract, which expired at the end of September, while waiting for an extension from the Ontario Energy Board. The OEB approved of the existing contract in January 2007. The contract pays OPG about C$5.1 million a month, which is enough to cover the company's costs of keeping the plant available.

One MW powers about 1,000 homes in Ontario.

OPG, the province-owned generating company, owns and operates about 22,000 MW of generating capacity and markets power to utilities in Ontario and neighboring U.S. and Canadian electricity markets.