China Creek Hydroelectric Project
The China Creek Hydroelectric Project is located approximately five kilometres south of the City of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. The watershed lies along the eastern side of Alberni Inlet and has a west-northwest orientation. China Creek began its official operations on December 5, 2005 after one year of construction and is owned by Upnit Power Corporation. The corporation's controlling partner is the Hupacasath First Nation with minority interest going to the City of Port Alberni, Ucluelet First Nation, and Synex Energy.
The intake and diversion structure consists of a 2.5 metre high concrete weir anchored to soil and bedrock, with a six metre long inflatable portion in order to pass flood flows and maintain transportation of sediment, a concrete intake canal structure with trashrack, intake pipe with gate and settling basin with sediment flushing pipe with gate.
Powerhouse equipment includes two horizontal-axis Francis-type turbines rated at 3.2 MW (megawatts) each, for a total output of 6.4 MW. Currently, only one of the units is in operation with the second turbine slated for commissioning in April of this year.
As stewards of the local area, the Hupacasath took note of the natural balance when constructing the plant. "We knew that for this site to be economically viable we had to make full use of the available water, knowing at the same time the water is also critical to the life of the plants and animals within this watershed," said Judith Sayers, President of Upnit Power Corporation. "To assure we addressed these issues a release pipe in the intake channel was designed to maintain flows in the bypass reach and in addition to the constant minimum release at the intake, there will be periods of time when the intake weir is overtopped."
