BC Hydro has received 38 proposals from customers from all sectors across the province in response to its new customer-based generation initiative, announced in May of this year. The program has a goal to sign several long-term contracts to acquire 800 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of installed and operating generation from existing BC Hydro industrial and commercial customers.
Projects proposed to BC Hydro to date range from surplus steam and waste to biomass and hydro. The next steps in the process are to evaluate the projects for current status, customer eligibility (the customer has to have been a BC Hydro client for at least the last 12 months) and project eligibility (including whether this is "new" or "existing" energy), as well as to confirm that the customer will be involved in the project either through equity, land tenure or some other means.
The projects are also expected to demonstrate ability and capacity for project completion, including financial capability and are required to meet a commercial operation date of Nov. 1, 2005 and use proven technology.
"With the proposals we have received so far we have every indication that customers support this initiative and that we will be successful in acquiring energy through these projects as demand grows," said BC Hydro's Vice President of Power Smart, Bev Van Ruyven. "This is a win-win program, as these projects will make our customers' operations more economical while also providing new, alternative, economical sources of energy for the province of British Columbia."
