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BC Hydro announced it has selected nine energy projects through its 2024 call for power that will supply clean, affordable electricity to serve B.C.’s growing communities and housing needs, as people and businesses choose clean energy in their lives, homes, vehicles and businesses.
“Clean and affordable electricity is key to powering economic growth and unlocking private-sector investment that creates thousands of good jobs here in British Columbia,” said Premier David Eby. “These new projects will significantly expand our electricity supply – making B.C. a clean-energy superpower, while ensuring rates are affordable for people and for industries looking to expand.”
BC Hydro received a strong response to its call for new renewable power-generation projects, and through its evaluation process will award 30-year electricity purchase agreements to nine wind projects. These projects will provide nearly 5,000 gigawatt hours per year of electricity, enough to power 500,000 new homes, boosting BC Hydro’s current supply by eight per cent.
The development and construction of new clean-energy projects, in response to the call for power, will generate between $5 billion and $6 billion in private capital spending throughout the province.
“We need these new energy generation projects urgently to meet growing demand for power and accelerate our efforts to build a prosperous and inclusive clean economy,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions. “Now that the projects have been selected, we’re going to work together with BC Hydro, First Nations and proponents to get these projects built quickly, responsibly and efficiently, and get those turbines spinning.”
To ensure the projects are completed as efficiently as possible, the Province intends to exempt these wind projects and all future wind projects in B.C. from environmental assessment, while ensuring First Nations interests and environmental mitigations are protected and maintained.
“It’s clear there are enormous opportunities to generate clean electricity through wind, and that we need to do more to get larger projects online faster,” said Tamara Davidson, Minister of Environment and Parks. “That’s why we are announcing our intention to exempt wind-power projects from the environmental assessment process, with a rigorous provincial permitting process in place, while ensuring First Nations are full partners in our shared, sustainable future.”
BC Hydro engaged extensively with First Nations on the design of the call for power, and included a requirement that projects must have a minimum 25% equity ownership held by First Nations. Eight of the nine successful energy projects will have 51% equity ownership. This represents $2.5 billion to $3 billion of ownership by First Nations in new renewable energy projects in the province.
“With the 2024 call for power, we have achieved our objective to provide new renewable and affordable electricity to power growing communities across the province. When we embarked on this initiative, we committed to meaningful economic reconciliation by requiring all projects to include First Nations ownership. These new wind projects represent up to $3 billion of ownership by First Nations, marking a historic step forward in energy partnership and reconciliation,” said Chris O’Riley, president and CEO of BC Hydro.
The cost of wind has dropped significantly over the past decade, and these new projects align with the trend of renewable costs decreasing. When adjusted to today’s dollars, the average price from the successful projects in this call is about 40 per cent lower than BC Hydro’s last call for clean power in 2010, reducing rate impacts and keeping electricity bills affordable for people and businesses.
Adding these new wind projects will diversify BC Hydro’s generation mix. B.C. is well positioned to add more intermittent renewables, such as wind, to the electricity grid as its integrated, flexible system of hydroelectric dams act as batteries. Reservoirs store water and allow BC Hydro to ramp production up or down almost instantly, providing a reliable backup when the wind is not blowing.
“The Clean Energy Association of British Columbia congratulates the successful proponents of BC Hydro’s call for power, which advances reconciliation through Indigenous ownership and will deliver economic benefits for all British Columbians. This procurement marks historic and tangible progress on climate action and reconciliation. Accelerating these projects will solidify B.C.’s position as a global clean-energy leader and bring affordable, clean electricity to our grid, enabling the sustainable growth and electrification of our communities and industries,” said Kwaatuma Cole Sayers, executive director, Clean Energy Association of B.C. |
