Acciona and its partners in the Peace River Hydro Partners (PRHP) consortium have completed the construction of the dam of BC Hydro’s 1.1GW Site C hydroelectric project in British Columbia, Canada.
The consortium led by Acciona secured the €1.8bn contract pertaining to the Site C Clean Energy Project in 2015.
The contract included the construction of an earth dam 60m high and measuring nearly 500m in width, two river diversion tunnels measuring 10.8m in diameter, and a length of 700m-800m.
Besides, it covers a concrete foundation for the power generation station and spillways.
The Site C project secured approval from the provincial government to proceed to construction in December 2014.
Acciona and partners began the dam fill works in 2021. In total, nearly 16 million m³ of earthfill material was placed.
The dam at the Site C reservoir, which stretches more than one and a half kilometers along the Peace River, is expected to enable the production of clean and renewable energy for over 100 years.
Acciona stated: “The construction of the Site C dam was built in compliance with international and Canadian safety practices, enabling it to withstand natural disasters.
”The PRHP construction of the earthen dam, the roller-compacted concrete dam and the diversion tunnels are part of the Site C Clean Energy Project, one of the largest infrastructure initiatives in Canada.”
The power generating station of the hydroelectric project will feature six generating units, each with a capacity of 183MW. The project will be the third dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in northeast British Columbia.
Once operational in 2025, the Site C hydroelectric project is expected to generate nearly 5,100GWh of clean energy annually. It is the equivalent electricity required to power approximately 450,000 households or 1.7 million electric vehicles (EVs) per year in British Columbia.
According to Acciona, Site C is one of the largest projects of the company in Canada.
