RC122 JanFeb 2026 - Magazine - Page 12
2026 TOP100 PROJECTS
Site C’s powerhouse, with six generating
units, has the capacity to generate more
than 1,100 MW of electricity, and enough
energy to reliably power about 500,000
homes annually.
GENERATIONAL
PROJECT
B.C.’s Site C project has secured the
province’s clean energy future
by Mark Cardwell
S OFFICIAL CEREMONIES go, the signing of the Commercial Notice
of Operation for the sixth and 昀椀nal generating unit at BC
Hydro’s Site C Clean Energy Project was a decidedly low-key
a昀昀air.
But for project manager Chris Waite, who inked the o昀케cial
document on a Saturday morning last August in front of a
handful of workers at the shiny new industrial facility on the Peace
River in northern British Columbia, several hours after the unit had
already become fully operational, it was a personal and team milestone moment that capped a decade of hard work and all-in commitment to the massive $16-billion dam and reservoir construction
project.
“It’s rewarding to see the facility operating,” said Waite, director of
construction management for BC Hydro and Site C project leader. “It
was a real challenge that was met by an excellent team of people who
were ambitious, driven and even a little bit crazy.”
Site C is now BC Hydro’s third hydroelectric dam on an 80-kilometre stretch of the Peace River, a 2,000-km-long waterway that 昀氀ows
east from the Rocky Mountains to Alberta where it merges with the
mighty Mackenzie River.
Its six generating units began coming online domino-style a
year ago when Site C’s 10,000-hectare reservoir reached a maximum
depth of 52 metres. Together, the units can harness the kinetic power
of water to produce between 1,100 and 1,230 MW of hydroelectricity
at any given time.
That works out to a yearly output of 5,100 gigawatts, enough
energy to power nearly a half-million homes. It also represents an
eight per cent boost to BC Hydro’s 43,000-gigawatt power grid, a
high-voltage electricity generating network that includes 33 generating facilities (30 of them hydroelectric), 70 dams, 18,000 kilometres of
lines and underwater cables, 100,000 wood poles, 22,000 steel towers
and 292 substations, spread out over 75,000 hectares.
A
Mark Cardwell is a
freelance writer based in
the Quebec City region.
12—RENEW CANADA – JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026
RENEWCANADA.NET
