AltaGas says the second of what will be three run-of-river hydro-electric projects north of here is producing power.
The Volcano Creek project along the Iskut River, rated at 16 megawatts, had its powerhouse and high voltage switchyard completed this month and is now delivering power to the provincial grid through BC Hydro's Northwest Transmission Line.
"We are pleased to announce the safe commissioning of Volcano Creek two years ahead of schedule and on budget," AltaGas CEO David Cornhill said.
The company, based in Calgary, expects final project commercial operations to be achieved by the end of the year.
AltaGas' first run-of-river project along the Iskut River to go into production was the much larger Forrest Kerr project of 195 megawatts.
That site began producing power and running it through the Northwest Transmission Line this summer and was officially certified in October.
A third run-of-river project, McLymont Creek at 66 megawatts, is under construction with a completion date scheduled for mid-2015.
BC Hydro is buying the power from all three projects under a 60-year deal it has with AltaGas.
Taken together, the three projects have a combined cost of $1 billion.
AltaGas built its own transmission line from its three projects to a substation at Bob Quinn on Hwy37 North where power then flows into the Northwest Transmission Line.