Marion 3 Creek Hydro Project
The Marion 3 Creek micro hydro project near Sproat Lake, west of Port Alberni, began generating 4.6 megawatts of energy into BC Hydro's grid in January 2005. Marion Creek is in the Kennedy River drainage area.
The 26 inch steel penstock runs downhill 3,750 meters, channeling one cubic meter per second of water from the creek. The penstock follows along existing logging roads with only a small length of new road created for access. Where some of the terrain is steeper the penstock is buried.
"When we design our projects we attempt to integrate them into the natural surroundings to insure that our impact is minimal," said Marion 3 Creek Hydro President Sam Jackson.
"An example is the location of the powerhouse, near Marion Creek Bridge. We planned for the building to be screened by a group of existing trees to prevent operations noise from traveling more than 50 metres."
Much like its sister project South Sutton Creek, Marion 3's visual and environmental impacts were designed to fit in with the existing surroundings. Apart from the power line to connect the project to the BC Hydro grid along Highway 4, there is little other evidence that this plant exists in the area. The powerhouse is not visible from the highway and the penstock is completely buried. The 5.4 megawatt plant went on line in January 2005 and took approximately 18 months to complete.
