Despite recent criticism of exorbitant rate increases tied to its building program, Canadian provincial utility company BC Hydro awarded a $900-million contract to the design-build team of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin and Argentina-based IMPSA to replace the 65-year-old John Hart Generating Station on Vancouver Island.
The project involves the construction of a replacement water intake at the John Hart Spillway Dam, replacement of the three penstocks with an approximately 1.2-mile-long tunnel, construction of a new generating station beside the existing station and a new water bypass facility.