Misplaced Pages

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16-435: The station originally consisted of six 160 MW units; it served to meet short term peak demands. Three units were held in standby, available on eight hours' notice. The three active units were used for voltage regulation. A plant upgrade project was completed in 2003. In 2001 it represented over 9% of BC Hydro's gross metered generation. BC Hydro shut down the station in 2016 after the completion of enough replacement capacity at

32-528: A car shuttle train . In 1949, the Trans-Canada Highway Act was passed which allowed construction of the Trans-Canada Highway , and in 1956 the decision was made to reroute the highway between Revelstoke and Donald through Rogers Pass , which officially opened on September 3, 1962; reducing the travel time by approximately five hours. After the rerouting of Hwy 1, the western segment of

48-651: A 500-kilovolt, 570-kilometre (350 mi) transmission line. A second power transmission line was built to the Meridian Substation near Port Moody , British Columbia, Canada. The creation of Kinbasket Lake submerged parts of the Big Bend Country , a subregion of the Columbia Country . This included a number of small communities along the Big Bend Highway , and the eastern section of that route. Also,

64-594: Is a 305-kilometre (190 mi) former highway in the interior of British Columbia , and was the original alignment of Highway 1 (Hwy 1) which followed the Columbia River between Revelstoke and Golden through the Selkirk Mountains . Big Bend Country was important as it was one of the few land routes possible for a wagon road to connect the Pacific Colony with the rest of British North America. After

80-525: The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) have made a series of long and short term agreements for using non-Treaty storage. Negotiations for a new long-term agreement began in 2011. If implemented, it would manage non-Treaty storage until 2024. Climate station located just south of Mica Dam at an elevation of 579.10 metres (1,899.9 ft). Kinbasket Lake above Mica Dam normally has unused capacity to store water and Revelstoke Lake below

96-697: The Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) line ran along the Columbia Valley from Donald to Beavermouth . Consequently, west of Donald, CP diverted the line to a higher elevation, which required constructing four new bridges and a 336-metre (1,102 ft) tunnel. Mica Dam was built to provide 8.6 km (7 million acre-feet) of water storage as outlined in the Columbia River Treaty, plus another 6.2 km (5 million acre-feet), referred to as "non-Treaty storage". Since 1977, BC Hydro and

112-468: The Columbia River 135 kilometres north of Revelstoke, British Columbia , Canada. It was built as one of three Canadian projects under the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty and is operated by BC Hydro . Completed in 1973, the Mica powerhouse had an original generating capacity of 1,805 megawatts (MW). Mica Dam, named after the nearby settlement of Mica Creek and its associated stream, in turn named after

128-500: The Columbia River . The dam's underground powerhouse was the second largest in the world at the time of its construction, and was the first 500 kV installation of sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) insulated switchgear in the world. Mica Dam was constructed by BC Hydro as part of three projects, along with Duncan Dam and Arrow Dam , required under the Columbia River Treaty , ratified in 1964. Construction began in 1967, and

144-496: The Mica Generating Station . After the gas turbines were decommissioned, four of the six generator units had their drive shafts cut and were converted to synchronous condenser operation, providing reactive power to the transmission system. This article about a Canadian power station is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Mica Dam Mica Dam is a hydroelectric embankment dam spanning

160-564: The gold rush in the late 1860s, travellers used canoes or river steamers until the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s. In the early 20th century, the Southern Trans-Provincial Highway was the only automobile route which connected southwestern British Columbia with Alberta . The Big Bend Highway, part of the Central Trans-Provincial Highway , was constructed between 1929 and 1940 and

176-526: The Big Bend Highway between Revelstoke and Mica Creek became Hwy 23 in 1964 and was reconstructed in the late 1960s. In 1973, Mica Dam was completed and sections of the road were flooded by McNaughton Lake (now Kinbasket Lake ); other sections were bypassed in the 1980s in anticipation the creation of Revelstoke Lake , which was part of the Revelstoke Dam project. An unsubmerged eastern section of

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192-621: The abundance of mica minerals in the area, is one of the largest earthfill dams in the world. The reservoir created by the dam is Kinbasket Lake . Water from the dam flows south directly into Revelstoke Lake , the reservoir for the Revelstoke Dam . Mica Dam is the tallest dam in Canada and second tallest in North America after the Chicoasén Dam in Mexico and it is the farthest upstream dam on

208-444: The dam has minimal storage capacity. A proposed pumped storage addition on the side of Mica Dam would pump water into Kinbasket Lake, which would later be used to generate power at Mica and Revelstoke dams. This project was discussed in 2017 as storage for intermittent power from wind turbines in the event that the Site C Dam was cancelled. Big Bend Highway The Big Bend Highway

224-471: Was built to be 54 metres (177 ft) high, 24 metres (79 ft) wide and 237 metres (778 ft) long. In 1976, the first two electrical generators were commissioned, and in 1977 two more were completed bringing the total capacity of the powerhouse to 1,805 MW. Another two 500 MW generators were added and became operational in 2014 and in 2015, giving a total generating capacity of 2,805 MW. The Mica powerhouse delivers its power to Nicola Substation via

240-573: Was completed on March 23, 1973. Mica Dam was operational on March 29, 1973. The dam was built to a height of 244 metres (801 ft) above bedrock, near the first location of the village Mica Creek . The dam operated with a 427 km (165 sq mi) reservoir containing 15 km (12 million acre-feet) of live storage and 24.8 km (20.1 million acre-feet) of total storage in McNaughton Lake, later renamed Kinbasket Lake in 1980. The underground powerhouse , begun in 1973,

256-494: Was jointly funded by the provincial and federal governments. It was a relief project during the Great Depression and constructed by pick and shovel. Initially designated as Route A , it opened on June 29, 1940 and was re-designated as Hwy 1 in 1941. It was regarded as a perilous gravel road that featured steep grades and runoffs from melting snow in the summer and was closed in the winter, with travellers preferring to use

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