Nisga'a eye hydro power in the Nass.
THE NISGA’A Lisims Government is the latest northwest entity to consider building power projects to generate electricity to sell to B.C. Hydro.
It’s looking for a partner to plan for up to three small hydro projects on Nass River tributary streams in anticipation of B.C. Hydro’s next call for independent power projects in 2007.
Preliminary estimates place the power potential at 19 megawatts and 59 gigawatt hours a year, says Lisims lands manager Mansell Griffin who has been working on the power possibility.
That’s enough to provide for the equivalent of up to 5,000 homes.
“Projects of this type wouldn’t provide a lot of jobs, but there would be some, and there would be revenue generated,” said Griffin.
Power generated would be fed into the B.C. Hydro grid and the Nass Valley home of the Nisga’a would not be considered as the area of first use.
But Griffin does think having Nass-based power would increase the reliability of electrical service in the valley and surrounding area.
“We’re at the end of the line of a long transmission system. If a tree falls on the line now, the power goes out for the valley and up to Stewart,” said Griffin.
“If we had power being generated here, in my own opinion, we would have increased reliability,” he added.
The Nisga’a have posted their interest with the Independent Power Producers Association of B.C. whose members now supply 1,000 megawatts of power, nine per cent of the province’s total production.
They want those interested to respond by Nov. 1 to allow time for negotiations and planning leading up to B.C. Hydro’s next call for independent power projects.
B.C. has become a net importer of power and B.C. Hydro has seized on smaller-scale developments as a way of meeting demand and reducing the need for foreign power.
In the northwest, there’s a proposal for a small power project on Maroon Creek which feeds into Kalum Lake, one for power-generating windmills to be placed on Mount Hays overlooking Prince Rupert and a plan to rehabilitate and expand old hydro faciolities at Kitsault and Anyox on the north coast which once provided power for mines there.
The strength of the Nisga’a proposal comes from the Nisga’a treaty of 2000 which gives the Nisga’a exclusive rights to water use in their core lands for 20 years.
But they must apply to the provincial government for water licences just as others would on other water systems around the province.
