Resource Smart
The Resource Smart program was initiated in 1988 to identify and implement efficiency gains at existing BC Hydro facilities. The program provides additional electricity to the BC Hydro system by modifying, updating and retrofitting our existing generation facilities. This means increased efficiency and electricity production with generally low or no incremental environmental impact. Since its inception, the Resource Smart program has added or restored almost 1,700 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year. That’s enough to power about 170,000 homes, or the same amount of energy as a new 240 MW combined-cycle gas turbine would generate each year.
Installing additional generating units at existing facilities is a cost-effective and environmentally sound way to meet the province’s growing energy demands. In addition to increasing our generating capacity, we have been adding computing "smarts" to our generation operation process and getting more power out of the water we run through the turbines. By using leading-edge techniques, we have refined the process that determines peak efficiency periods for units to run, improving the efficiency of existing resources.
One example is the recent addition of the fourth turbine at Seven Mile Generating Station located on the Pend D’Oreille River in southeastern B.C., near Trail. Unit 4, with an installed capacity of 210 megawatts, will produce enough power for about 30,000 homes.
