B.C. Energy Minister announces hydro dam upgrades worth 1,000 megawatts
Revelstoke Dam's sixth unit, along with improvements to six other generating stations, will add more than 1,000 megawatts to the province's power supply by 2032.
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B.C. is upgrading its hydro system to unlock an additional 1,000 megawatts of power from existing infrastructure — a strategy Energy Minister Adrian Dix says is faster and cheaper than building new dams from scratch.
The largest project will expand the Revelstoke Dam on the Columbia River by adding a sixth generating unit, producing 500 megawatts of additional power by 2032. The first four units at the facility will also be modernized.
Six other generating stations and the W.A.C. Bennett Dam will be part of the broader optimization plan.
"It is faster than building new generation from scratch, and it maximizes the value of decades of investment by British Columbia hydro ratepayers and the people of B.C.," Dix said Wednesday at a news conference in Vancouver.
The Revelstoke upgrades will generate about $60 million in local spending and employ up to 180 workers, but the government did not provide a total cost estimate for all projects announced.
Dix compared the Revelstoke work to the Site C dam on the Peace River, which cost $16.6 billion and generates up to 1,230 megawatts. The Revelstoke 6 project will produce 500 megawatts "at a fraction of the cost" — about 1/16th the price of Site C, Dix said.
The announcement comes two days after Dix said the government is seriously considering building two new hydro dams: one on Bute Inlet on the central coast and a fourth dam for the Peace River known as Site E. The ministry said details will emerge as projects unfold.