Atlin RFEI Questions & Answers
Project proponents interested in participating in the Atlin RFEI are invited to submit questions to Angee Watanabe.
As received, BC Hydro will post responses to questions of general interest on this page. Questions may be edited prior to posting for clarity or to aggregate a number of questions of similar subject matter.
July 4, 2005
16. Does BC Hydro expect the proponent to negotiate a long term energy purchase agreement with Yukon Energy?
It is the responsibility of the proponent to negotiate a long term energy purchase agreement with Yukon Energy.
15. Does BC Hydro expect a pass-through on the Yukon Energy prices, or a guaranteed price to be offered by the proponent?
BC Hydro expects proponents to offer a guaranteed firm price for the energy.
14. Would BC Hydro continue to own and maintain the diesels (and carry out their conversion to "standby" units) in Atlin.
BC Hydro will continue to own and maintain the diesel plant until such time that BC Hydro is confident with the reliability of supply. At that time, BC Hydro will retire and remove the plant. Proponents are encouraged to submit standby options.
13. Would BC Hydro be prepared to maintain the transmission line? If so, the whole line, or just that portion within BC?
BC Hydro is interested in all options from the proponent.
June 23, 2005
12. The "Atlin Community Energy, Planning Assessment of Supply Options" document appended to the Atlin RFI mentions the existing generating system would require plant upgrades if it continues to be the only supply source (section 4.1).
If possible could you provide some background information on the existing facilities? Specifically, what type of upgrades might be required, what would be the timing of these upgrades and what is the expected life expectancy of the plant?
The community of Atlin is currently served by a combination of diesel generation units in both mobile and stationary configuration. It is anticipated that 1 to 2 mobile and 3 stationary power units will require significant upgrade or replacement over the next 3-5 years. In addition, some upgrades to switchgear and controls will be required.
11. With respect to table 3-2, what fuel consumption rate or fuel costs in $/litre are these unit costs based on?
These costs are based on an average consumption rate of 0.28 litres per kWh generated between F2000-F2002.
10. Section B.3.1.2 (b): There is a request for submission of project financial information. This may compromise client confidentiality (and in some cases we don’t know) What should we do? On the other hand, schedule information should be OK to release.
In the case where detailed financial information is not available, or its disclosure may compromise client confidentiality, please provide a general discussion of the key financial aspects of previous power generating projects that proponent members have been involved in, including the cost of the project, source and type of financing arrangements, and also the experience and qualifications of the proponent’s key financial personnel.
9. Appendix 2, item 6: Will the PPIS require real time communication or simply store parameters for download?
BC Hydro will not require real time information, but does request that proposed Power Parameter Information Systems (PPIS) have the ability to store information for future downloads as required.
8. What load swings are expected? Can we get more detailed demand information? For example, if there was a cyclic load in the community this would be a factor in the system design.
The community of Atlin has a winter peaking load and currently requires 1.3 MW system capacity to reliably serve this load. Load requirements during the summer months of July/August is generally 55 – 60% of system peak.
This small community consists mainly of domestic load and there have been no unusual or rapid changes in load swings encountered.
7. Does BCH want a disk of the Questionnaire and other EI pieces or an email?
BC Hydro requires that a minimum of two hard copies and, where possible a CD containing the completed RFEI Questionnaire and other supplemental information deemed by the proponent to be relevant to their submission, be submitted by the submission deadline of Monday, July 4th, 2005 at 4:30 pm, to the address indicated under section B.2.4 of the Atlin RFEI document.
6. Do we include all previous environmental studies or just summarize and reference them?
Where possible, proponents are encouraged to submit copies of previously undertaken environmental studies. Where this is not possible or where it would require a significant amount of work to compile and prepare, a summary of the environmental studies may be submitted.
5. How many hard copies of the EI does BCH require?
BC Hydro requests that proponents submit two hard copies of the EI materials and completed Questionnaire.
June 9, 2005
4. In regard to the Atlin request, is Hydro going to treat it like the other calls for power?
BC Hydro seeks to employ consistent objectives when acquiring power, such as cost effectiveness, reducing transaction costs, competitive process and reliability of supply. The acquisition methodology proposed for purchasing power for the Atlin community is a request for proposal. This methodology differs from the call for tender methodology used for previous calls for power issued by BC Hydro. Despite the difference in the acquisition methodologies, the objectives employed to purchase power for the Atlin community remain consistent with those of previous calls for power.
3. What assistance is Hydro going to offer?
BC Hydro recognizes that the electricity offered by various suppliers/projects have different attributes associated with it, such as the level of reliability, the environmental attributes associated with the generation of the energy, and others. BC Hydro will consider these attributes when evaluating projects.
2. Is Hydro prepared to assist in the connection fees or in any other way?
BC Hydro is not responsible for the connection of the plant to the BC Hydro Non-Integrated Area distribution system.
1. It is understood the price Hydro pays for the power will be quite a bit higher than the price the citizens pay for their own use. This amounts to a subsidy by Hydro. Is it possible to get a feel for the numbers that Hydro may be considering?
BC Hydro is seeking to purchase power for the Atlin community that offers financial, reliability and other benefits when compared to the current supply. One of criteria BC Hydro will use when evaluating projects is to compare the cost effectiveness of each project. The current price paid by the community of Atlin will not be used when evaluating projects.
Last Modified: Jul 4, 2005
