B.C. Hydro has some big plans for Burnaby, including several infrastructure projects that were recently presented to the Burnaby Board of Trade.
Greg Reimer, executive vice-president of transmission and distribution with the energy company, told the NOW that electricity demands in the area are growing by 2.3 per cent every year, and are projected to for the next 10 years.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of growth and economic development in Burnaby,” said Reimer, listing Brentwood, Metrotown and parts of South Burnaby as hubs for residential and commercial growth. “Right now, BC Hydro is going through a big build era – much of our system was built out in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, and we’re really experiencing significant load growth throughout areas of British Columbia.”
To accommodate the increasing need for electricity, B.C. Hydro is spending $1.4 billion on its transmission and distribution system, on par with last year’s investment. Some of that money is going toward electrical substations in the city, including a brand new site in Big Bend.
“Our infrastructure that’s serving that area will reach its capacity in 2016 or 2017, so we need to build this new substation to ensure that we have reliable power for the growth that’s going on there right now,” said Reimer, adding that they must build a new one because they cannot expand the current substation.
The Big Bend project is estimated to cost $55 million and has an end service date of fall 2016. Meanwhile, the Horne Payne substation – just north of Lougheed Highway near Gilmore Avenue – is in need of necessary upgrades to accommodate incoming development.
“The developments that are happening in the Brentwood area are causing this load growth, and so we’re going to double the capacity of that substation,” said Reimer, noting those upgrades will also cost $55 million and are set to be completed in 2016. “We’re going to add two new transformers, which will double the amount of energy that it can distribute to the Brentwood area.”
The company’s biggest upcoming project is its ongoing Metro North Transmission study, which is considering three routes for a 230-kilovolt line to transmit power between Burnaby, Coquitlam and Vancouver. Reimer noted that B.C. Hydro is currently consulting with the public on the proposed routes.
The routes include running the line straight across the city, up the side of Burnaby Mountain or following part of Highway 1.
“One option is to have this transmission line come from Coquitlam to downtown Vancouver as an all-overhead line,” he said. “Another option is a combination of overhead and underground, and the third option is completely underground.”
Because the route hasn’t been determined, B.C. Hydro hasn’t settled on an estimated cost for the Metro North line, though the project is estimated to be completed around 2019.
“It takes a lot longer to build a transmission line because of the extensive consultation that we have to do with the many communities along the way,” he said.
While the projects are designed to accommodate growth in the city, Reimer said the added substations and transmission line will improve reliability and prevent the system from becoming overloaded. In the case of a power outage, he said these improvements will cut into restoration time.
