Mica Dam is a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

spanning the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

135 kilometres north of

Revelstoke, British Columbia Revelstoke () is a city in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, with a census population of 8,275 in 2021. Revelstoke is located east of Vancouver, and west of Calgary, Alberta. The city is situated on the banks of the Columbia River just s ...

, Canada. It was built as one of three Canadian projects under the terms of the 1964

Columbia River Treaty The Columbia River Treaty is a 1961 agreement between Canada and the United States on the development and operation of dams in the upper Columbia River basin for power and flood control benefits in both countries. Four dams were constructed under ...

and is operated by

BC Hydro The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, trade name, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, wi ...

. Completed in 1973, the Mica powerhouse had an original generating capacity of 1,805

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s (MW). Mica Dam, named after the nearby settlement of Mica Creek and its associated stream, in turn named after the abundance of

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into fragile elastic plates. This characteristic is described as ''perfect basal cleavage''. Mica is co ...

minerals in the area, is one of the largest earthfill dams in the world. The

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

created by the dam is

Kinbasket Lake Kinbasket Lake (or Kinbasket Reservoir) is a reservoir on the Columbia River in southeast British Columbia, north of the city of Revelstoke and the town of Golden. The reservoir was created by the construction of the Mica Dam. The lake includes ...

. Water from the dam flows south directly into Revelstoke Lake, the reservoir for the

Revelstoke Dam Revelstoke Dam, also known as Revelstoke Canyon Dam, is a hydroelectric dam (combined earthfill dam and gravity dam) spanning the Columbia River, north of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. The powerhouse was completed in 1984 and has an inst ...

. Mica Dam is the tallest dam in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and second tallest in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

after the

Chicoasén Dam The Chicoasén Dam (officially the ''Central Hidroeléctrica Manuel Moreno Torres'', for ) is an embankment dam and hydroelectric power station on the Grijalva River near Chicoasén in Chiapas, Mexico. The dam's power plant contains 5 x 300 MW ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and it is the farthest upstream dam on the

. The dam's underground powerhouse was the second largest in the world at the time of its construction, and was the first 500 kV installation of

sulphur hexafluoride Sulfur hexafluoride or sulphur hexafluoride ( British spelling) is an inorganic compound with the formula SF6. It is a colorless, odorless, non-flammable, and non-toxic gas. has an octahedral geometry, consisting of six fluorine atoms attached ...

(SF₆) insulated

switchgear In an electric power system, a switchgear is composed of electrical disconnect switches, fuses or circuit breakers used to control, protect and isolate electrical equipment. Switchgear is used both to de-energize equipment to allow work to ...

in the world.

History

Mica Dam was constructed by BC Hydro as part of three projects, along with

Duncan Dam Duncan Dam is a dam spanning the Duncan River (British Columbia), Duncan River in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. Duncan Dam was the first dam built to satisfy the Columbia River Treaty, initiated ...

and Arrow Dam, required under the

, ratified in 1964. Construction began in 1967, and was completed on March 23, 1973. Mica Dam was operational on March 29, 1973. The dam was built to a height of above bedrock, near the first location of the village Mica Creek. The dam operated with a reservoir containing of live storage and of total storage in McNaughton Lake, later renamed

in 1980. The underground powerhouse, begun in 1973, was built to be high, wide and long. In 1976, the first two

electrical generator In electricity generation, a generator, also called an ''electric generator'', ''electrical generator'', and ''electromagnetic generator'' is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy for use in an extern ...

s were commissioned, and in 1977 two more were completed bringing the total capacity of the powerhouse to 1,805 MW. Another two 500 MW generators were added and became operational in 2014 and in 2015, giving a total generating capacity of 2,805 MW. The Mica powerhouse delivers its power to Nicola Substation via a 500-kilovolt, transmission line. A second power transmission line was built to the Meridian Substation near

Port Moody Port Moody is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It envelops the east end of Burrard Inlet and is the smallest of the Tri-Cities, bordered by Coquitlam on the east and south ...

, British Columbia, Canada. The creation of Kinbasket Lake submerged parts of the Big Bend Country, a subregion of the Columbia Country. This included a number of small communities along the Big Bend Highway, and the eastern section of that route. Also, the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(CP) line ran along the Columbia Valley from

Donald Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinter ...

to Beavermouth. Consequently, west of Donald, CP diverted the line to a higher elevation, which required constructing four new bridges and a tunnel. Mica Dam was built to provide of water storage as outlined in the Columbia River Treaty, plus another , referred to as "non-Treaty storage". Since 1977, BC Hydro and the

Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of United States Congress, Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Col ...

(BPA) have made a series of long and short term agreements for using non-Treaty storage. Negotiations for a new long-term agreement began in 2011. If implemented, it would manage non-Treaty storage until 2024.

Climate

Climate station located just south of Mica Dam at an elevation of .

Pumped storage

Kinbasket Lake above Mica Dam normally has unused capacity to store water and Revelstoke Lake below the dam has minimal storage capacity. A proposed

pumped storage Pumping may refer to: * The operation of a pump, for moving a liquid from one location to another **The use of a breast pump A breast pump is a mechanical device that Lactation, lactating women use to milking, extract milk from their breasts. They ...

addition on the side of Mica Dam would pump water into Kinbasket Lake, which would later be used to generate power at Mica and Revelstoke dams. This project was discussed in 2017 as storage for intermittent power from wind turbines in the event that the

Site C Dam The Site C Dam is a hydroelectric dam currently under construction on the Peace River, 14 kilometers southwest of Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located approximately 80 kilometers downstream from the W. A. C. Be ...

was cancelled.

References

External links

{{Columbia River dams , dam=Mica Dam, downriver=

, upriver=none Dams on the Columbia River Dams in British Columbia Hydroelectric power stations in British Columbia Columbia Country Dams completed in 1973 Embankment dams Underground power stations BC Hydro Publicly owned dams in Canada

History

Climate

Pumped storage

See also

References

External links