“Sea to Sky is one of the renewable energy capitals of the province,” says Colleen Giroux-Schmidt.
She’s the senior director of governmental and regulatory affairs with Innergex Renewable Energy, which runs several run-of-river projects in the Sea to Sky.
New, old and prospective hydroelectric run-of-the-river sites abound in the corridor. As of April, 10 run-of-river projects operated in Sea to Sky, according to BC Hydro.
The District of Squamish has recently commissioned a $50,000 feasibility study for a small-scale run-of-river hydroelectric project for Mashiter Creek, a tributary of the Mamquam River, approximately five kilometres east of Squamish.
The BluEarth Renewables Culliton Creek Hydro Project 20 kilometres north of Squamish is a run-of-river hydroelectric project completed in December 2015. An official commissioning ceremony was held at the site on May 25.
“This project shows what can be achieved when First Nations, the private renewable power industry and government work together to develop clean energy resources in First Nations traditional territories,” Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy said at the event.
Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett said that in 2015, 98 per cent of energy generated in B.C. was from “clean or renewable resources.”
“Private-sector clean energy projects like the Culliton Creek Hydro Facility are a big part of our diversified energy supply,” he said in a news release about last week’s event.
The Culliton Creek facility has the capacity to generate enough power for approximately 5,900 homes, according to BluEarth.
One of the two largest projects in the corridor is the $139 million 50 MW Innergex Ashlu Creek project located on Ashlu Creek, which is a tributary of the Squamish River, about 35 kilometres northwest of downtown Squamish. Ashlu is one of four Innergex hydroelectric projects in the Sea to Sky Corridor, which also has two under construction in the region. The Rutherford Creek project is the company’s other 50 MW facility.
The Ashlu Creek Hydro Project produces 265,000 MWh of hydroelectricity a year, enough to power about 24,000 homes and generate annual earnings of about $15 million for Innergex, according to the company.
How it works
Basically, a run-of-river project is electricity generation that starts with a steep drop in elevation. “The energy comes from the water and the gravity – the drop in the water coming down,” said Giroux-Schmidt.
Unlike large traditional hydro dam projects, run-of-river projects don’t store large amounts of water in resovoirs.
At Ashlu Creek, water is diverted and guided down a five kilometre long under ground tunnel, to a powerhouse. The water spins three turbines inside the powerhouse, which generates electricity that eventually feeds into the BC Hydro grid. The diverted water is later fed back into the river downstream. “They are all a little different, depending on the topography and what works in the situation, but they all have an intake, they all have a penstock or a tunnel and they all have a powerhouse,” Giroux-Schmidt said.
The advantage of hydroelectricity, she explained, is it is emission-free and renewable. “So this is clean. It is low-impact to the surrounding environment,” she said. “It is consistent with the water flow, so for its footprint, you get a nice bang for your buck – a lot of energy comes out of the system.”
The Ashlu Creek project was originally not supported by the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, but in 2006, the provincial government overruled the local land- use authority by passing Bill 30, which removed the ability of local governments to make decisions on the placement of run-of-river projects. Construction of the Ashlu plant started shortly afterward.
Social benefits
Like many run-of-river projects in the corridor, the Ashlu facility is within the Squamish Nation’s traditional territory; an impact and benefit agreement was signed with the Nation in 2005.
The Culliton Creek project was built in collaboration with Squamish Nation as well. The Nation gained employment and contracting opportunities, according to BluEarth, which noted the project provided more than 200,000 hours of employment. Squamish Nation members had about 80 onsite jobs, 13 per cent of the total, according to the company.
“The number of Nation members who worked on the project surpassed our goal, and we were pleased with the effort that BluEarth made to achieve that,” said Squamish Nation Councillor Joshua Joseph. “This project is a great example of how companies and proponents should work with First Nations on their traditional territories.”
Giroux-Schmidt said Innergex gives back to the Upper Squamish Valley community. In 2009, the year Ashlu began operations, the not-for-profit Ashlu Creek Foundation was formed with a $400,000 cash injection from Innergex, she said. Each year, an additional $80,000 goes toward the foundation. In 2015, the foundation paid for high-speed Wi-Fi for Upper Squamish Valley residents, she noted.
One of the biggest concerns when the project first got constructed was that the popular kayaking creek would be out of commission for the sport. But the company works with kayakers, Giroux-Schmidt said, to the extent that they can email the company and request the level of flow they want during several kayaking weekends. “Kayakers have told us it is almost better than before the project was in because they know, if they drive up here, what the flow is going to be,” Giroux-Schmidt said.
Fish Impact
Rainbow and cutthroat trout are present above the intake at Ashlu, according to Innergex, and pink, Coho and Chinook salmon also call the creek home. The company works with the Squamish River Watershed Society on long-term monitoring and the Sea to Sky Invasive Species Council, Giroux-Schmidt said. The company installed a fish ladder and collaborated on fish channel projects downstream, she noted.
“We don’t ever endorse or not endorse these projects,” said Edith Tobe of the Watershed Society. “But we definitely work with the government agencies at the end of the day with restoration.”
Things have not always gone smoothly for the fish since the Ashlu Creek power project was constructed. In 2012, the facility was named in relation to fish kills in freedom of information documents the Wilderness Committee received. The Squamish Chief has received copies of the documents.“They had massive problems with environmental compliance at the plant,” said Gwen Barlee, national policy director of the Wilderness Committee.
Barlee said fish kills are common to run-of-river projects. “You have fluctuations in the river that are caused by operations in the plant, called ramping,” Barlee said. “When the water goes up quickly, it can strand fish, and a stranded fish becomes a dead fish very, very quickly.”
At run-of-river projects across the province, there’s a lack of environmental oversight, Barlee added. “From an environmental perspective, something like 90 per cent of river-diversion projects are on rivers with salmon or salmonoid species, and that wasn’t supposed to happen. These were supposed to be on areas of rivers that were fish-free.”
Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for monitoring the Ashlu site.
“Although there were compliance issues identified during the early operational phase of the project, at present, monitoring results show no significant compliance issues,” said Leri Davies, spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Barlee’s other objection to the run-of-river projects is economic.
“These projects are a disaster,” she said. “We have a surplus of electricity in British Columbia right now. The price of electricity has gone down fairly dramatically.”
The electricity from the independent power producers is being sold at a loss, Barlee said, further contributing to BC Hydro’s debt of about $18 billion according to the April report by Moody’s, a credit-rating company.
David Hughes, an earth scientist who has studied the energy resources of Canada for four decades, said run-of-river projects are best used as a last resort rather than as go-to renewable energy sources.
“Number one at the top of my list [instead] is figuring out how to use a lot less energy,” he said. “There’s no free lunch, basically.”
The problem with all renewable energy sources is they are unpredictable so they need back-up energy sources, he said, and usually the back-up energy is natural gas. “With wind, the wind has to be blowing, solar doesn’t work at night, and run-of-river water is a lot more predictable but it varies a lot by season.”
Hughes said each run-of-river project has to be looked at on a case-by-case basis, but ultimately they can’t be depended on as a future power, omitting fossil fuels. “The 100 per cent renewables crowd are likely dreaming in technicolour, certainly for the next 20 to 50 years... Ultimately, the human race will live on renewable energy after everything else runs out, but what will society look like at that point if we don’t have some forward thinking?”
Mayor Patricia Heintzman echoed Hughes’ assertion, but said run-of-river projects may be an interim solution to going 100 per cent renewable. “Ideally, we start using less and less energy and we start building our buildings more efficiently,” she said.
“In the meantime, many parts of the world are still using natural gas or coal or nuclear to feed the grid. Heintzman added that the location of the run-of-river projects has to be carefully considered.
“I definitely feel IPPs have to be done on the right rivers,” she said.
Heintzman said she will await the district staff’s feasibility study and input from the public to determine whether Mashiter Creek, which already has district emergency water infrastructure on it, is the right location for another run-of-river project.
Hughes’ report on energy, “Can Canada Expand its Oil and Gas Production, build Pipelines and Meet its Climate Change Commitments?” is being released today.
