BC Hydro Awards Civil Contract For Installation Of Additional Generating Units At Mica Generating Station

May 11, 2011 - 14 years ago

As part of its regeneration program to upgrade and renew B.C.’s electricity system, BC Hydro announced recently that Peter Kiewit Infrastructure Company has been awarded a $40 million contract for civil work needed to install the fifth and sixth generating units at Mica Generating Station.

With the awarding of this new contract, BC Hydro will create 121 person years of direct employment over the next five years. The civil contract includes the supply and placement of reinforced concrete needed to house the turbine parts and for other purposes related to the installation of the additional generating units. All labour for the Mica 5 and 6 Project will be hired through the Columbia Hydro Constructors agreement that gives preference to Columbia basin workers and equity hire. Throughout the entire life of the project, the Mica Unit 5 and 6 expansion is expected to create 800 person-years of direct employment.

"BC Hydro is taking important steps to secure our province's future electricity needs by re-investing in our heritage generating facilities," said Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman. “The work being done at Mica will not only ensure the facility continues generating clean electricity for British Columbians for years to come but will also benefit many families through job creation.”

The Mica Units 5 and 6 Project is part of BC Hydro’s overall regeneration program over the next three years to invest in and renew the province’s electricity system. These investments are required to improve and replace aging facilities that were built primarily between 1950 and 1980, ranging from upgrading dams and generating stations, to building entirely new transmission lines linking existing and new substations, and much more.

These investments are also essential for BC Hydro to maintain among the lowest rates for electricity in North America. “The Mica Units 5 and 6 Project is a low cost and low impact project that will provide the much need additional capacity to BC Hydro’s electricity system,” said Chris O'Riley, BC Hydro’s Executive Vice-President of Generation. "This is a significant amount of electricity that will increase BC Hydro’s provincial capacity by nearly nine per cent, allowing BC Hydro to provide clean, reliable and affordable electricity to an additional approximately 80,000 homes at peak demand periods."

Already the tallest dam in the province at 243 metres in height, the additional capacity will also make Mica Generating Station the most powerful. The additional two units will increase the generating capacity of the facility from 1,805 megawatts to approximately 2,805 megawatts, surpassing BC Hydro’s current largest facility – GM Shrum Generating Station on the Peace River System at 2,730 megawatts.

Mica Generating Station, located 135 kilometres north of Revelstoke, was originally designed to house six generating units though only four were installed when the facility was constructed in 1977. The Mica 5 and 6 Project will install two new 135-metric-tonne generating units in the empty bays for a total of six generating units.