Powering B.C.’s future
The Site C hydroelectric project is closing in on the finish line, with four of its six generating units now producing electricity on the Peace River. When fully complete, the 1,100-megawatt dam will add roughly 8 percent to BC Hydro’s capacity, supplying enough power for about 500,000 homes. Built to last a century with proper maintenance, Site C is designed as a backbone asset for a growing, electrifying province.
On the home stretch
“We now have four of our six units that will be installed. Four are running right now. And when is it going to be fully operational? We hope to have all of the units in service by the end of the year, maybe even sooner, in late summer into the fall,” said Bob Gammer, community relations manager for Site C.
The reservoir was filled in the fall of 2022, with generation commencing in late October. Project components include the earthfill dam, generating station, spillway, and an integrated reservoir system. Construction began in 2015 following federal and provincial environmental approvals and decades of planning that trace back to the 1950s.
Built by thousands
At peak, Site C was one of the largest construction sites in Canada. “At peak, we had 6000 workers on the project overall, probably about 3500 at peak on site right here, other sites, other workers, so upstream, where we were having building, building bridges and realigning highway and boat ramps,” Gammer said.
The workforce drew heavily from within the province, with approximately 25 percent of workers from the Peace River Regional District and about 80 percent from across British Columbia, supplemented by workers from elsewhere in Canada. Indigenous workers accounted for roughly 10 percent of total employment, and Indigenous-owned firms provided services such as security and site support. As construction winds down, the permanent operating team is expected to be a small fraction of peak staffing.
Safety by design
The project team highlights design improvements shaped by lessons from earlier BC Hydro facilities. “We took learnings from our older facilities and made changes to Site C, 1 of the things we call it is safety by design, so much safer for workers to work in confined spaces. We’re reducing those confined spaces so that way jobs can be done more efficiently and certainly more safely,” Gammer said.
Those changes, combined with modern control systems and higher-efficiency turbine technology, are expected to inform upgrades at existing hydro assets across the province.
Lessons for the grid
With demand for electricity set to rise as transportation, industry, and heating move away from fossil fuels, Site C’s scale and reliability arrive at a pivotal moment. The project’s commissioning sequence, workforce experience, and “safety by design” approach offer a template for future capacity additions and retrofits. If all proceeds as planned, the final two units will enter service later this year, cementing Site C’s role as a cornerstone of British Columbia’s clean-power system.
- Now watch Bob Gammer’s full video interview with Resource Works here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tnzNu5BFS4
