BC Hydro commissions 5th generation unit at Site C project

Canadian utility BC Hydro’s 1,100MW Site C project has reached one of its last major milestones with the successful commissioning of its fifth generating unit.

Testing and commissioning of the sixth and final generating unit is now underway. The unit remains on track to come into operation by this fall, BC Hydro said.

Site C, on the Peace River in northeastern British Columbia, is the largest and most expensive infrastructure project in the province’s history, with an estimated construction cost of $16 billion.

“Commissioning the fifth generating unit at Site C is a significant step towards securing more clean and affordable electricity for communities, homes and businesses,” said Adrian Dix, minister of Energy and Climate Solutions. “Congratulations to all the workers at Site C on your success achieving this significant milestone.”

Since the first unit came online in October 2024, the Site C project has steadily advanced. The second unit followed in December, the third in February, and the fourth in late March. Each generating unit is capable of producing over 180MW of electricity.

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Once fully operational, the 1,100MW Site C will boost BC Hydro’s total electricity supply by approximately 8%. The project will be the third dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in northeast BC, and is expected to produce about 5,100GWh of electricity each year.

The Site C reservoir will be 83 km long and will cover about 5,550 hectares of land with a total surface area of about 9,330 hectares.

The project received environmental approvals from the federal and provincial governments in October 2014, then got the green light from the Government of BC in December 2014.

Construction of the project started in summer 2015.

Originally published by Sean Wolfe on Factor This