A BC Hydro project to upgrade or replace capacitor stations, including one in Prince George called the Williston substation, is in the works.
The Peace to Kelly Lake Capacitor Project will look at four capacitor stations to ensure the transmission system can move electricity from where it is generated to where it is used across the province.
“Williston is a real key substation here, it brings in the power from the Peace region, it connects the north coast, and provides a conduit to get the power down to the southern portions of the province,” explains Project Manager Mark Alexander of the PG-based substation.
“The Williston substation has always been, and will continue to be, a real key and critical piece in our system.”
Three alternatives are being considered. Alternative one sees four new capacitor stations built between the Peace Region and Kelly Lake substation, removing equipment at the Kennedy and McLeese capacitor stations, and upgrading the Williston substation with expansion east onto BC Hydro property.
Alternative two sees expansion to the east and south for Williston. Two new capacitor stations would be built instead of four, and the Kennedy capacitor station would still have equipment removed.
The third and final alternative has three new capacitor stations, removing Kennedy station equipment, upgrading the McLesse station, and the smaller PG upgrades with expansion to the east.
“We’re hoping to identify what we call the ‘leading alternative’ for early 2019, that will allow us to move to the next phase and slowly work towards actually having a fully defined project that we hope to start construction as early as 2021.”
The first round of feedback from stakeholder engagement and First Nations consultation will be gathered until July 20th, 2018.
Current project information can be found here.
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