Run of river hydroelectric projects proposed by a company associated with Enbridge have no connection with the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, according to the energy company.
A numbered company, 8056587 Canada Ltd., has proposed a series of hydro projects in northern B.C., including some to the north of Prince George. A pipeline opponent believes they hydro generation could be connected to Northern Gateway, but a company spokesman said they are separate from one another.
"I can confirm that those run-of-river projects (currently only in the pre-assessment phase) are not connected to [Northern Gateway]," spokesman Ivan Giesbrecht wrote in an email.
Anti-pipeline activist Brenda Gouglas of Fort St. James isn't convinced. After researching the proposals, she found a series of similarities between the proposed northern Alberta to Kitimat heavy oil pipeline and some of the features of the run of river hydro plans.
She noted one plan calls for transmission lines to run to Bear Lake, the site of a Northern Gateway pumping station. A different run of river project in the Clore River areas calls for a tunnel of nearly the same length and in the same general location as the proposed pipeline's tunnel through the mountains.
"They're saying it has nothing to do with the pipeline, but there are so many coincidences," Gouglas said.
According to Gouglas, other planned transmission lines also lead to pumping stations Northern Gateway has planned for its route, while the timing for the hydro projects possible in-service dates are close to when the company hopes to have the pipeline operational.
"Would they be doing these [hydro projects] without Gateway?" she said.
None of the run of river projects have been approved and Giesbrecht said a full environmental review would be required before they could advance past the current stage.
