From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mica Dam |
|
| Opening date |
1973 |
| Geographical Data |
|
 |
| Coordinates |
52° 4'39.38"N 118°33'56.56"W |
Mica Dam is a hydroelectric dam spanning the Columbia River 135 km north of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. Completed in 1973 under the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty, the Mica powerhouse has a generating capacity of 1805 MW. The dam is operated by BC Hydro. The Mica Dam, aptly named after the abundance of mica minerals in the area, is one of the largest earthfill dams in the world. The reservoir for the dam is Kinbasket Lake, which was created when the dam was built. Water below the dam flows directly into Revelstoke Lake, the reservoir for the Revelstoke Dam. The dam's underground powerhouse was the largest in the world at the time of its construction, and was the first installation of SF6 insulated switchgear in North America.
[edit] History
- Mica Dam was declared operational on March 29, 1973.[1] The dam was built to a height of 800 feet (244 m) above bedrock, near the first location of the village Mica Creek. At the time, the dam was one of three storage dams built by the provincial power company B.C. Hydro, within the description of the Columbia River Treaty. The dam operated with a 165 square mile reservoir containing 12 million acre feet (15 km³) of live storage in McNaughton Lake. The underground powerhouse, begun in 1973 was built to be 178-feet-high, 80-feet-wide and 778 feet long.
- In 1976, the first two generators were commissioned and in 1977 two more were completed bringing the total capacity of the powerhouse to 1740 megawatts.
- Another two generators are scheduled to be added in the future for a total generating capacity of 2,610 megawatts.
- The Mica powerhouse delivers its power to Nicola Substation via a 500 kilovolt 354 mile (570 km) transmission line. A second power transmission line for hydroelectric power was built to the Meridian Substation near Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada.
- In 1980 the name McNaughton Lake changed to Kinbasket Lake, above and north of Lake Revelstoke.
- A number of small communities were inundated by the creation of Kinbasket Lake, and comprised a region known as the Big Bend Country, a subregion of the Columbia Country. Among these towns were Mica, Big Bend and Downie.
[edit] References
- ^ page 3, Kelowna Capital News, December 29, 1976, "New Generators, Boost in Mica power scheduled in 1977"
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 52°03′N, 118°35′W
