The B.C. government has given an environmental assessment certificate to the British Columbia Transmission Corporation for its proposed Interior to Lower Mainland Transmission Project.
Energy Infrastructure
The B.C. government has given an environmental assessment certificate to the British Columbia Transmission Corporation for its proposed Interior to Lower Mainland Transmission Project.
The proposed project is a 255-kilometre, 500-kilovolt transmission line, that would run from the Nicola substation near Merritt to the Meridian substation in Coquitlam.
It would use existing right-of-ways, but would require about 74 kilometres of new right-of-way and about 60 kilometres of right-of-way widening to accommodate the new line.
The project would also include new access roads, a new capacitor station at Ruby Creek, termination equipment at the Nicola and Meridian substations, and other system requirements.
B.C. Transmission Corporation proposes to use existing Forest Service roads, public roads, private roads and some new roads to access the proposed project corridor during construction and operation phases.
Helicopter access would also be used due to access restrictions, terrain constraints and to minimize potential effects to environmental resources.
The project is proposed to cost $602 million, which includes engineering, materials procurement, construction, regulatory and environmental assessment and property costs, corporate overhead, interest during construction contingency and inflation.
About 543 person-years of employment would be required to complete the job.
It is estimated that 70 per cent of the proposed project workforce would be from the Lower Mainland and the Southern Interior regions of the province, resulting in temporary employment for local individuals and business opportunities for local suppliers.
Specialized trades associated with foundation and anchor installation, as well as experienced power line technicians for conductor installation would likely be brought in from other parts of B.C. and Canada.
Before the project can proceed, the proponent still needs to obtain the necessary provincial licences, leases and other approvals.
Once completed, the transmission line would be owned by BC Hydro and operated by the BC Transmission Corporation.
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