Turning up voltage at B.C. hyrdro dams

Hydroelectric power is an important source of green energy. B.C. is lucky to have a significant supply of hydroelectric power as we continue to address the concerns of climate change.

While on a short vacation recently to the West Kootenays, I stopped to pursue my interest in dams at the Hugh Keenleyside Dam just north of Castlegar. I noticed that a significant portion of the river flow was through the dam control gates rather than the electric turbines.

From my experience, one of the advantages of hydroelectric facilities is the ability for them to address the high-value power which occurs at peak demand each day, when most people return home in the evening and initiate power demand activities.

This is possible because of the ability of the hydroelectric facility to quickly and easily adjust the flow through the turbines. This is not possible for steam-generated power from coal and nuclear plants.

The recent improvements in the efficiency of electrical storage should make it possible to use almost 100% of the river flow to generate power and use the combination of the turbines and storage at appropriate rates to meet the peak demands. This would require increasing the hydroelectric power capacity at the chosen dams to an appropriate level.

The addition of added hydroelectric power generation at an existing dam will have a significantly lower cost.

The appropriate dam locations for adding generating capacity may depend on such considerations as the alternate green electrical generation appropriate for the specific location.

I believe, almost any existing dam in B.C. could be included.