BC Wind Power, Waneta Dam Hearings, Haida and NaiKun and Biomass EPA's Approved

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Warren Brazier
Wind Turbines Are Spinning in BC (finally!)
 
British Columbia's first wind energy facility opened earlier this month in Dawson Creek. The Bear Mountain Wind Park, which is owned by AltaGas, when completed will consist of 34 turbines and generate enough electricity to power 38,000, homes. The project has an EPA with BC Hydro under the 2006 Power Call and will receive up to $20.5 million from the the Government of Canada's ecoENERGY For Renewables Program. This marks a significant milestone on the Canadian renewable energy landscape. Now each of Canada's 10 Provinces can claim to be generating electrons to their respective electricity grids from the power of the wind. A monumental moment indeed. Those in British Columbia can purchase electricity from the Bear Mountain Wind Park, through Bullfrog Power.
 
BC Hydro's Purchase of 1/3 of Waneta Dam before BC Utilities Commission
 
This week marks the start of the public hearing stage for BC Hydro's proposed purchase of a 1/3 interest in Teck Metals Ltd.'s Waneta Dam in Trail, BC . BC Hydro is seeking an order from the BCUC under s. 44.2(1) of the BC Utilities Commission Act that the proposed for $825 million purchase is in the public interest. In its submission to the BCUC, BC Hydro characterizes the Waneta Dam as a significant hydro electric generating facility that has produced safe, reliable power for Teck for over 50 years. If the purchase completes, BC Hydro believes it would gain access to 167MW of capacity and 890 GWh/year of energy. This is an interesting proposal for BC Hydro.  In BC there are only a handful of privately owned dams, and rarely, if ever, are these dams available for purchase. So, BC Hydro buying an existing asset which can supply base load power to the grid and storage capacity, seems to follow quite well with the Province's energy self-sufficiency objectives. The hearing process which will take place over the course of the fall, will examine, among many other things, the cost to acquire the interest in the dam and aboriginal consultation and/or accommodation. This will be very interesting to follow.  Here is the link to the BCUC's webpage on the BC Hydro Waneta Transaction.
 
NaiKun and the Haida Nation sign Investment MOU
 
Last week, NaiKun Wind Energy and the Haida Nation signed a memorandum of understanding which could give the Haida nation a 30% ownership stake in NaiKun's proposed $2 billion wind power project off the coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. NaiKun currently has a proposal into BC Hydro as part of the Clean Power Call. Kudos to NaiKun and the Haida Nation who continue to show tremendous leadership on the business relationship between first nations and independent power producers. Here's the Vancouver Sun's story on the deal.
 
EPA's for Four Bioenergy Projects Accepted By BCUC
 
Following up on my earlier blog posts (here and here) on Phase I of BC Hydro's Bioenergy Call for Power, electricity purchase agreements between BC Hydro and the four successful projects have now been accepted by the BCUC. They are: Canfor Pulp Ltd. Partnership's project in Prince George, PG Interior Waste to Energy Ltd.'s project also in Prince George, Domtar Pulp and Paper Products Inc.'s project in Kamloops, and Zellstoff Celgar Ltd. Partnership's project in Castlegar. Together, the four projects will generate a total of 579 GWh/year of electricity, or enough to power more than 52,000 homes. Here is BC Hydro's press release. Biomass energy is certainly a welcome boon to BC's forest industry. Great to see BC Hydro buying more of it. Here is the latest information on the Phase II of the Bioenergy Call.
 
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2,775 MW - Canada's Installed Wind Energy Capacity

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Warren Brazier

With the recent completion of the 197.8 MW Wolfe Island EcoPower Centre off the coast of Kingtson, Ontario by Canadian Hydro Developers, Canada now has 2,775 MW of installed wind energy capacity, or enough power to meet the annual needs of 840,000 homes, according to the Canadian Wind Energy Association. 

Where is all of this wind energy in Canada?  Check out this map of Canada's current installed capacity.  Note that Ontario is now the leading province with 1,162 MW of installed capacity and BC currently has no operating wind farms. The Province's goose egg in the wind energy department will be changing very soon with the Bear Mountain wind farm project  just south of Dawson Creek nearing completion. The turbines there are expected to be spinning in late fall. Should be quite a sight. 

You should be hearing a lot more from BC wind energy developers in the coming months. Collectively, they bid 19 wind projects into BC Hydro's clean power call. And, as I blogged about last week, Grouse Mountain is working to install a single 1.5 MW wind turbine, which will serve a dual role - part electricity generator (up to 20% of Grouse Mountain's annual requirements) and part tourist attraction (it will have an elevator to an observation deck).

And just to touch on when the results of the clean power call may be released by BC Hydro - barring a major shocker, it will happen after the BCUC releases its decision on BC Hydro's 2008 LTAP.  When that will be is anybody's guess. It could happen any day now. With billions of investment dollars waiting to be spent in this province, one hopes that the BCUC's decision will come sooner rather than later and that BC Hydro's much awaited decision on the CPC comes immediately thereafter, so we can all get to work on building the green energy projects the province so desperately needs.

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