AltaGas flows run-of-river opportunities in NW
With three proposed run-of-river projects worth over $1 billion in investments in Northwest B.C., this region stands to receive a lot of benefits from employment and providing supplies, a representative of AltaGas said.
AltaGas’s Vice President of Renewable Energy Operations Dan Woznow was in Smithers last week, giving a general overview of their Forest Kerr, Volcano Creek, and McLymont Creek run-of-river projects. All three are just north of Stewart, near Eskay Creek Road, with Forest Kerr being the largest.
Already crews have hit the ground running with Forest Kerr, which has just passed its environmental assessment and currently has a camp with around 50 employees working on construction of the site.
Run-of-river varies from a major hydro-electric dam in that it’s wholly dependant on the natural ebb and flow of the river. A weir crossing the river has flap gates that can be closed or left open and from there it diverts the water down a tunnel to a powerhouse. There, what are essentially paddle wheels generate electricity as the water is run through them, and the water is then released back into the river.
Forest Kerr has an expected generation of 195 megawatts of electricity. The three together are expected to generate 277 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 90,000 homes.
“They’re long term,” Woznow said. “These things really do not go away.”
For Forest Kerr, the tunnel is about three kilometres long, and about the width of a highway, Woznow said. They’re not anticipating finding an environmental concern with the waste rock, but will be monitoring the materials before the rocks are either placed at designated areas or crushed into road gravel that they’ll use to create the roads they need to access the infrastructure.
McLymont Creek is currently going through its environmental assessment review, as is Volcano Creek, however due to the smaller size of Volcano Creek it’s undergoing a separate review, and not one handled by the environmental assessment office.
During peak construction time, anticipated to be in 2013, between the three projects (if all are approved) they anticipate a construction crew of up to 400. It makes sense to hire locally, Woznow said, rather than flying folks in and communities from Terrace to the Bulkley Valley stand to profit a fair bit in supplying the crews equipment, as well as food.
“There’s going to be lots of needs for services,” Woznow said. “I think we’re on a good track here, to see us here now is exciting.”
As far as fish go, neither McLymont or Volcano creek are fish-bearing creeks, Woznow said, and Iskut River, which is near Forest Kerr, has its spawning grounds kilometres down from the powerhouse location.
“There’s really no fish to be concerned about,” Woznow said.
MLA Doug Donaldson, who attended the meeting, was pleased to note that AltaGas took the time to consult with the Tahltan nation, as well as taking time out of their schedules to discuss the project with community members surrounding the project area.
“I think the more people know about what’s going on, the better, as far as these developments,” Donaldson said.
Small scale hydroelectric projects are an important part of meeting B.C.’s future energy needs, Donaldson noted. There are projects that make sense, he said, but environmental practices and first nation’s consultation measures do have to be in place.
For more information on AltaGas, go to www.altagas.ca.
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