Arrow Lakes Generating Station

"Providing Electricity for North America"

What's the best way to build a new hydroelectric plant in North America — without harming the environment?

MWH served on a design-build team that accomplished this goal on the Arrow Lakes Generating Station near Castlegar, British Columbia. The team delivered the 170-megawatt powerplant on time and on budget. At the time, it was the largest North American design-build hydroelectric project undertaken to date.

The Columbia River has a long history of hydroelectric power development.

The mighty waterway flows 1,200 miles from the base of the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. Together with 10 major tributaries, it generates more than 21 million kilowatts of electricity. Most of that power is captured in 400 individual dams.

The Canadian facility was designed and built to integrate with this existing comprehensive dam and reservoir system. It adhered to a number of strict ecological requirements. This included no net loss of fish habitat in the pristine area.

Engineering Achievement

MWH partnered with international contractor Peter Kiewit Sons and equipment supplier General Electric Canada on the complex project.

The new powerplant is situated along the north bank of the original Hugh Keenleyside Dam. This is one of three large dams built on Columbia River in the 1960s and 1970s for flood control and downstream power generation.

The original dam didn't contain a powerplant. But advancements in turbine technology and the economies of the design-build process have changed that. The new facility at Keenleyside consists of:

• Twin 85-megawatt turbine generators
• A 1,400-foot concrete-faced rock filled dam
• A 4,200-foot concrete-lined approach channel that diverts water from the original dam's upstream reservoir to the new powerplant located 1,300 feet downstream

The Arrow Lakes Generating Station is jointly sponsored and owned by the Columbia Power Corporation and the Columbia Basin Trust. It represents an important new electricity source for North America — and serves as a power example of what integrated design-build teamwork can accomplish.