The province is looking to the wind as it seeks to power a growing British Columbia.
On Dec. 9 the government announced electricity purchase agreements with nine new projects, all harnessing wind power through turbines that will be constructed throughout B.C. The result of BC Hydro’s first call for power in 15 years, the agreements represent an estimated $5-6 billion in private capital investment to build four wind projects in the south interior, another four in the north interior, plus one on eastern Vancouver Island - the 197-megawatt Brewster Wind Project that involves a partnership with the Wei Wai Kum First Nation.
During the announcement Premier David Eby claimed the project will make B.C. “a clean-energy superpower” at a time when other parts of North America are moving away from renewable sources.
“The moment we’re in, we’re seeing major jurisdictions move away from clean energy; Alberta with new rules restricting wind energy, for example,” said the premier. “South of the border we’ll see what decisions the new administration makes around clean energy…that presents a huge opportunity for us.”
Eby spoke of a benefit in the province exporting power as other regions face a growing need for electricity.
“We know that our neighbours to the south and to the north want to buy our electricity as well, buy it at a premium that helps keep rates low for British Columbians,” he said.
But in the coming years B.C. will need more sources of electricity, according to BC Hydro’s 10-year capital plan, which predicts that 15 per cent more electricity will be needed by 2030 to meet rising demand driven by things like electric cars and household heat pumps. The nine wind projects are expected to produce an additional eight per cent of B.C.’s power-producing capacity.
“The energy profile of these projects is well-suited to our needs, delivering more energy in the fall and winter months when demand for power is the highest,” said Chris O’Riley, president and CEO of BC Hydro. “These are larger projects, delivering between 316 to 714 gigawatt hours per year, or enough to power half a million homes in total.”
This is about equal to what the $ 16-billion Site C dam will be able to produce when it becomes fully operational by fall 2025, said Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions Adrian Dix. The wind projects will sell the power they generate back into the BC Hydro grid, at a cost lower than what was agreed upon by the provincial utility in the past, said Dix.
“The prices will be considerably lower than the price BC Hydro paid for new energy procured in the last open call for power 15 years ago,” he said. “In fact, when adjusted for today’s dollar, the average price for these successful projects in this call is more than 40 per cent lower than it was in the last call for power in 2010.”
This call for power was also different in how it required at least 25 per cent First Nations ownership. Eight of the selected projects have a majority ownership by First Nations.
“The projects selected today will power First Nations and drive sustainable economic growth,” said Kwaatuma, Cole Sayers, executive director of Clean Energy Association of BC, noting that the developments represent $3 billion in First Nations equity. “These projects will provide access to jobs, training and education, laying the foundation for economic and energy sovereignty and uplifting communities.”
Over the last two decades several Nuu-chah-nulth communities along Vancouver Island’s west coast have built run-of-the-river hydro projects, harnessing the heavy stream flows during the rainy fall and winter months. But the viability of building more of these micro-hydro projects is currently hamstrung by a maxed-out transmission capacity on many parts of the island, where transmission lines like the one from Tofino to Port Alberni cannot handle the additional load that more hydro developments would bring.
When asked about the prospect of improving transmission capacity, BC Hydro responded to note plans to upgrade lines in the Victoria area, and an improved cable from the B.C. mainland that passes through the Gulf Islands. Vancouver Island’s generating capacity is 532 megawatts, but the peak demand is 2,258, meaning that approximately three quarters of the region’s power comes from the mainland.
The last call for power also had a requirement of at least 40 megawatts, a relatively large-scale development that leaves any prospective projects in Nuu-chah-nulth territory out of the immediate equation for purchase agreements with BC Hydro. During the First Nations Energy Summit in early December Cloy-e-iis, Judith Sayers, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, asked Dix if her communities would be excluded in the future. BC Hydro expects to issue calls for power about every two years.
“I’m not looking for answers as much as I’m looking for commitment,” said Sayers to the provincial minster in Vancouver. “A lot of the projects in our communities are smaller; a 40-megawatt project costs a lot. We’re asking for you to help us to ensure that the money and the opportunity are there.”
“If there’s a misalignment there, I’m happy to sit down with you and talk about it,” responded Dix.
During that summit Dix stressed the urgency of the province building renewable power projects faster, as in the past the permitting process has at times taken longer than construction. At the Dec. 9 announcement he said the nine wind projects will not be subject to environmental assessments to ensure speedy builds.
“This means that wind projects will be able to advance through development, construction and completion more quickly,” he said.
The nine wind power projects are expected to be operational by the fall of 2028.
