With Vancouver Island experiencing significant growth in Victoria, Saanich, Langford, Colwood and Nanaimo, BC Hydro plans to build more than $3-billion in capital projects in local communities over the next 10 years.
A variety of projects will upgrade and expand the electricity grid to provide clean power for more homes and businesses.
Part of its 10-Year Capital Plan, includes:
- building a new substation in the Langford area that will power an additional 40,000 to 70,000 homes and be in service by 2030;
- replacing end-of-life transmission underground cables that service Victoria, Esquimalt and Saanich, which will increase capacity more than 60%, enough to power more than 100,000 additional homes.
An increase in power-line capacity to support growth is also expected in:
BC Hydro will also replace older undersea cables to upgrade transmission capacity to Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is experiencing significant growth in Victoria, Saanich, Langford, Colwood and Nanaimo.
Seismic upgrade projects are planned for BC Hydro's three dams within the Campbell River system, John Hart, Strathcona and Ladore, to maintain downstream public safety and to ensure a continuing reliable local supply of energy, with all three projects planned to be in service by 2030.
BC Hydro is also investigating the feasibility of grid-scale batteries on Vancouver Island to provide additional capacity to address anticipated growth and improve reliability in the region.
In North Vancouver Island, work will be done to voltage convert and upgrade the existing system supplying Port Alice, which will provide BC Hydro with more options to restore outages, as well as allow more and larger customers to connect to the system.
BC Hydro is also making investments to replace its substation in Woss.
The plan, announced in January, contains $36 billion in regional and community infrastructure investments throughout B.C., a 50% increase in investments over its previous capital plan.
These construction projects are expected to support an average of 10,500 to 12,500 jobs annually and will increase and maintain BC Hydro's capital investments as major projects such as Site C are completed.