N.A.C. Power Plant

It is mandatory to go through the ticket office of the Cité de l’énergie (located at the Science Center) to obtain transportation and access to the hydroelectric sector.

The discovery of the old power plants begins with the exploration of the Northern Aluminum Company (N.A.C.) power plant. This first power plant on the site to produce electricity is now an amazing exhibition space. Restored and transformed into a vast exhibition hall, it presents the collection of industrial machines of the Cité de l’énergie and Hydro-Québec. You enter by crossing the very place where the penstock was installed. The water that turned the six turbines of the power station flowed through this pipe. The N.A.C. hydroelectric facilities were planned by the designers of the Niagara Falls power plant.

On the ground floor, a wide variety of industrial objects is displayed. These machines illustrate the four major technologies that have marked Shawinigan’s industrial history: hydroelectricity, aluminum, pulp and paper and electrochemistry. Interpretation stations punctuate the tour and a rally through the N.A.C. is offered.