October 19, 2010

Fortis to proceed with Waneta hydroelectric project

Canada’s largest private-sector power company plans to build a $900-million hydroelectric plant in southern British Columbia, with two provincial agencies as partners.

Fortis Inc. of St. John’s, N.L., will own 51 per cent of the hydro plant, known as the Waneta Expansion, which will supply BC Hydro and sell surplus electricity to an unregulated market.

The project, near Trail, B.C., is being led by Fortis in partnership with the government-owned Columbia Power Corp. and Columbia Basin Trust.

Other companies interested in the project will have until Sept. 13 to submit alternatives to the Fortis plan, through BC Bid.

Montreal-based engineering and construction services giant SNC Lavalin was chosen as the preferred candidate to be the project’s contractor in May 2009.

At the time, Waneta Expansion Power Corp. — a subsidiary of Columbia Power Corp. and Columbia Basin Trust — said construction could begin as early as last fall. But the project was put on hold in November, when the provincial agencies announced the power plant plan had to be restructured.

They said Thursday that SNC Lavalin continues to be the preferred construction contractor.

Fortis, which owns Newfoundland Power and a other utilities in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and P.E.I., said that each of the expansion project’s partners will be responsible for funding their portion of the cost.

-RCD Digital Media

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