Based in Cambridge, Ontario, Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) is Canada’s largest supplier of steam generation products and services. Steam generators, or boilers, use heat to convert water into steam, primarily for electric power generation and industrial process heating.
Babcock & Wilcox
designs and manufactures steam generators for a wide range of applications
for electric power generation and industry. In addition to boilers that
run on conventional fuels such as coal, oil and gas, Babcock & Wilcox
also specializes in nuclear steam generators. They supplied a unit for
Ontario’s first nuclear power facility in the 1950s, and have since manufactured
the steam generators for every nuclear power plant in Canada and many more
worldwide.
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| 1. A Firetube boiler on its way from the Goldie & McCulloch Company to Thessalon Pulp and Paper Company in Thessalon, Ontario, on September 18, 1901. 2. This 1991 nuclear steam generator, bound for Northeast Utilities in Waterford, Connecticut, shows significant advances in technology and transportation methods. |
Babcock & Wilcox is extremely proud of its Canadian heritage. The company’s roots in Canada reach back to 1844, when the Dumfries Foundry was established in what is now Cambridge, Ontario. Fifteen years later two employees, John Goldie and Hugh McCulloch, purchased the foundry, and in 1891 they incorporated and began to attract interest internationally. An 1889 newspaper article in the Babcock & Wilcox archives notes Goldie & McCulloch’s expanding international portfolio:
The Goldie & McCulloch Co. have just been given an order for $4,000 worth of machinery by a company doing business in the city of Mexico. The Goldie & McCulloch Co. have frequently made small shipments of machinery to Mexico, but this will be the largest consignment of all. They are to be congratulated on their expanding reputation. (The Galt Reporter, Aug. 3,1889)This expanding reputation attracted the interest of Babcock & Wilcox of New York, who were impressed with Goldie & McCulloch’s international business experience and high-quality manufacturing expertise. In 1923 Goldie & McCulloch amalgamated with Babcock & Wilcox Limited of New York and London and became Babcock-Wilcox & Goldie-McCulloch Limited. Although the Goldie and McCulloch families no longer hold interests in Babcock & Wilcox, many local Cambridge residents still fondly refer to the company as “Goldie’s.”
Babcock & Wilcox’s corporate achievement has much to do with their business strength internationally, a strength which has remained since the days of Goldie & McCulloch. In fact, the Canadian operation was given the responsibility for all international sales and service for the entire Babcock & Wilcox organization in 1982 because of their international success. Since then, the International Division of Babcock & Wilcox has sold to more than 35 countries and has established joint venture companies in Indonesia, China, India, Turkey and Mexico. Babcock & Wilcox was also one of the first two-time recipients of the Canada Export Award.
Long-standing Canadian ties and a strong international business base combine to make Babcock & Wilcox a true Canadian corporate achiever.
