Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation has signed a resource development agreement with Alterra Power Corporation for the proposed Bute Inlet run-of-river hydro project.
Alterra was created in 2011 through a merger of Plutonic Power Corporation and Magma Energy Corporation. It has already signed agreements to advance the Bute project with the Homalco and Sechelt first nations.
The Bute project consists of water applications to develop up to 17 run-of-river hydroelectric projects and associated infrastructure that would generate over 1,000 megawatts and an estimated annual potential generation of 2.9 million megawatt hours, enough energy to meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 300,000 homes.
The agreement with Tla’amin will facilitate the development of the transmission infrastructure for the project, as a portion of the transmission line would be located within its traditional territory.
Chief Clint Williams said the agreement acknowledges and respects Tla’amin’s aboriginal rights and title and provides for training dollars and revenue sharing. “It’s a good agreement for Sliammon,” he said.
While the funds are contingent on the project moving forward, there was a signing bonus for Tla’amin, Williams said. “Alterra has been very respectful of Sliammon’s and our neighbours’ aboriginal rights and title. They’ve been very pro-active in this regard and I just commend them on their approach to this. They’ve come and tried to work with us in advance of many of the other approvals that they’ll need and I think that’s a very respectful approach to the local first nations.”
Donald McInnes, executive vice chairman of Alterra, said the company is laying the foundation of getting ready for the future. “Nothing is happening on Bute imminently, but it’s slowly putting the pieces together toward getting the project as advanced as we can without really spending a lot of money at this point, as we have no understanding of when a timeframe might exist in which we’d be able to advance the project,” he said. “However, having said that, we are doing things to try to align interests, which is why that agreement was put into place just now. Building for the future and doing what we can in the absence of certainty of procurement, which we’re optimistic will come at some point in the future, but right now we’re just doing what we can to advance the project in a very methodical, but slow and inexpensive way.”
Williams said the agreement is similar to the one Tla’amin signed for the Toba-Montrose project, two run-of-river hydro power facilities in the Toba Valley which began operating in August 2010. The agreement helped a number of Tla’amin’s community members, Williams said. “The training dollars and the training opportunities that were available on Toba-Montrose really changed some people’s lives. We now have some red-sealed trades people out there as a result of the project.”
Alterra has also announced that it has signed a resource development agreement with Klahoose First Nation for the Upper Toba run-of-river project. The agreement sets out the terms under which the construction of the facilities can proceed and the project, which lies within Klahoose’s traditional territory, can be brought into commercial operation.
Upper Toba, an expansion of the Toba-Montrose project, consists of two run-of-river hydro power plants at Jimmie Creek and the Upper Toba River, with a combined capacity of up to 124 megawatts. The facilities will use much of the infrastructure already in place for Toba-Montrose. The project has a 40-year power purchase agreement in place with BC Hydro, has received an environmental assessment certificate and has signed an interconnection agreement with BC Hydro.
The project will use the existing Toba-Montrose power line, which travels through the traditional territory of Tla’amin and Sechelt.
