Hydroelectricity in Canada

BC Hydro owns and operates the majority of hydroelectric installations in British Columbia. A second crown corporation, Columbia Power Corporation and two companies also own large dams in BC, Alcan's Kemano Project and FortisBC.

90% of BC Hydro's generation is produced by hydroelectric means. Natural gas and biomass thermal power round out the generation portfolio.[9]

Over 80% of BC Hydro's installed in generating capacity is at hydroelectric installations in the Peace and Columbia river basins. The GM Shrum and Peace Canyon generating stations are on the Peace River produced 29% of BC Hydro's electricity requirements. In the Columbia River Basin, Mica and Revelstoke hydroelectric plants together contributed 25%, while Kootenay Canal and Seven Mile generating stations together supplied 10%.[10]

The remaining 25 hydroelectric generating stations supplied 14% of electricity production. BC Hydro also operates thermal power plants. The Burrard Thermal Generating Station contributes 7.5% and the remaining 14.5% of the electricity requirement was supplied by purchases and other transactions.[10]

BC Hydro's last dam was completed in 1984, since then run-of-the-river projects with private partners have been built. Power production without reservoirs varies dramatically through the year, so older dams with large reservoirs, retain water and average out capacity. As of 2012, there were approximately 40 small hydro sites generating 750 MW.[11] By 2014 various companies have built a total of 100 run of the river projects under 50 MW. In 2014 they produced 18,000 GWh from 4,500 MW of capacity.[12]

As of March 31, 2018, Manitoba Hydro serves a peak Manitoba electrical load of 5,648 megawatts.[13] Electrical supply to Manitoba customers was 22.5 terawatt-hours in fiscal 2017, with total revenue due to electricity of $1.464 billion CAD. Extraprovincial sales totaled $437 million in 2017-18 and were at 9.448 terawatt-hours, with normal water flows.[14] The company also delivered 2.048 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2017–18, which contributed $346 million CAD to revenues.[15] As of early 2020, around 97% of the electricity generation in Manitoba comes from hydroelectricity.[16]

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's installed generating capacity, 7289 megawatts (MW), 92 percent hydroelectric, is the fourth largest of all utility companies in Canada.

The Northwest Territories has an installed hydroelectric generating capacity of 55 MW, supplying electricity to the North Slave and South Slave electricity grids. Each grid operates independently and is not connected to the electrical grid in the rest of Canada.

Ontario Power Generation Produces 50% of the electricity used in the province, 40% from hydroelectric, 10% from nuclear-powered facilities, 30% from solar, and 20% from biomass. They're also thermal plants that burn biomass and natural gas with a generating capacity of 2,458 MW; these plants were not used in 2015.[17]

After a provincial government commitment to phase out all coal generating plants, two units at Nanticoke were shut down in fall 2010.[18] Another two were shut down in 2011.[19] The final four were shut down on December 31, 2013.[20]

Hydro-Québec's extensive network of 61 hydroelectric dams have a combined capacity of 38,400 megawatts,[21] accounting for over half of the Canadian total. Hydropower accounts for 95.73%[22] of the supply sold by the Quebec Crown-owned utility. Five of Hydro-Québec's hydroelectric facilities are rated above 2,000 MW — the Manic-5, La Grande-4, La Grande-3 La Grande-2-A and Robert-Bourassa stations — while 7 others have a capacity of over 1,000 megawatts.[23]