Lower Mainland
| Area Facilities | ||
| Alouette | Cheakamus | Stave Falls |
For security reasons, detailed facility information is no longer available.
Overview
The Lower Mainland, along with Vancouver Island, is the region that consumes the majority of the province’s electrical energy. It contains several hydroelectric generation stations and one thermal plant.
The Bridge River complex is the third largest development in the BC Hydro system (after the Peace and Columbia projects). The complex consists of three distinct components: the 460 MW Bridge River powerhouses, the La Joie Dam and 25 MW generating station, and the 48 MW Seton Generating Station (G.S.). The La Joie Dam and generating station near Bralorne discharges into Carpenter Lake, which is formed by the Terzaghi Dam on the Bridge River. These plants use water diverted from Carpenter Lake through tunnels to the two Bridge River stations located on Seton Lake. The Seton G.S. is situated at the east end of Seton Lake near Lillooet. Water releases are required for fish spawning in Seton Creek. Studies are underway to determine a balance among flood control, environmental and power benefits.
Wahleach G.S. is a 64 MW "high head" station located west of the Town of Hope. The Stave River generation complex includes the 9 MW Alouette, the 91 MW Stave Falls, and the 105 MW Ruskin generating stations. The two Buntzen stations produce 72.8 MW. Buntzen Lake provides fresh water make-up for the Burrard Thermal G.S. Each of these installations provides facilities for a wide variety of recreational uses.
The Cheakamus G.S., located on the Squamish River, is a two unit, 158 MW facility using water diverted from Daisy Lake on the Cheakamus River. The reservoir is subject to very rapid draw down and filling. Considerable effort has been made to reduce flooding below the dam during adverse weather conditions.
The Burrard Generating Station is a 950 MW conventional natural gas-fired generating station. It plays an important role to provide back-up for the hydroelectric system during low water years, and also to provide transmission support and electrical supply security for the Lower Mainland. As the energy available from our dams becomes fully committed due to increased demand, Burrard will be required to operate at greater capacity until new generating facilities are added to the system. As a system resource it also supports electricity trade from the BC Hydro integrated system. Burrard has been upgraded and modernized. Improvements have been made to reduce the emission of smog-forming pollutants by 90%, to monitor air polluting emissions on a continuous basis, to eliminate chlorine from the cooling water, to use a modern Digital Control System, to improve thermal efficiency, to reduce greenhouse gases, to provide oil spill containment, and to reduce noise at the facility. An Environmental Management System certified to the ISO 14001 Standard was implemented at Burrard in 1999 to ensure that high environmental standards are maintained in the future.
Find out about recreational opportunities available in this region.
Last Modified: Dec 5, 2005
