The applications for new energy projects, and in particular run-of-river projects has slowed somewhat in the past year. This is as much a result of filtering out of realistic projects from the "claim staking" that went on, as anything else. The slow down is also related to the applications now listed for almost all of the viable projects in the area - there are simply only so many streams in the area! Many projects are still non-economical, mainly due to the interconnection and transmission issues which all energy projects face.

In addition BC Hydro's calls for energy have changed, and in general favors run-of-river projects less than in the past (due to the desire for "firm" energy, and due to the seasonal energy production distribution that run-of-river projects produce - with high summer production, and low winter production). In BC our energy demands are for the most part opposite of that, we need energy in the winter, and generally have enough in the summer.

The run-of-river projects are concentrated on the Coastal Mountains for a couple of reasons (higher winter precipitation, and long summer flows), proximity to consumption, proximity to export infrastructure, and abundant base resources (lots of high volume, steep streams).

In general there is a trend toward clustering projects, which from the developers prospective makes the interconnection and transmission issues much more economical, and there are also grouped savings on construction, permitting, etc.

The big news in the SLRD is the failure of the Ashlu project to gain local re-zoning approval. There were also a number of applications for tributary streams to the Ashlu that fell off in the past 18 months, and as well the application on the Elaho River was removed (according to the Nov 1 project information listings on the web).

This, however, does not mean that any project may not re-surface if a company feels they have enough resources, sufficient water, and sufficient backing to make a project viable.

The current project list below help shed some light on the number of projects which are currently under consideration. Please note that there may be other projects which are being worked on outside of the application process, and that as with any effort, this is a snapshot in time. Finally, there may also be errors or omissions.

  Nov 2005 SLRD Energy Projects List