BC Hydro signs Site C construction contract $250M over estimate

Bennett says there is more than one union representing workers, and there are more workers in B.C. than just unionized ones.

The contract is going to Peace River Hydro Partners, which is a consortium of Acciona Infrastructure Canada Inc. – a subsidiary of Spanish infrastructure construction firm Acciona, Petrowest Corp. and Samsung C & T Canada Ltd., a division of the giant Korean firm and Alberta-based Petrowest Corporation.

The council pushed the province and BC Hydro to come to an agreement over the project with the council, an umbrella group for B.C.’s construction-sector trade unions, as has been done on Hydro projects in the past.

The eight-year contract includes construction of an earth-fill dam, and a concrete foundation for the generating station and spillways at the site in northeastern B.C.

A series of job fairs business networking sessions are being planned for early 2016, which will give local, regional and aboriginal businesses and job seekers the chance to meet the Peace River team and other project contractors.

“The argument against project labour agreements in the case of LNG proposals was that it’s private investment and government didn’t want to constrain investors”, Horgan said.

Hydro said the winning bidder has made a commitment to local hiring.

Council president Lee Loftus said hundreds of Alberta workers are already working on the dam.

“With a contract in place, we now have a confirmed value”.

A consortium led by Acciona Infrastructure Canada has secured the CAD$1.75bn ($1.2bn) main civil works construction contract from BC Hydro for the 1.1GW Site C dam and hydroelectric power generation project on the Peace River in north-eastern British Columbia.

Image: Illustration of Site C hydroelectric project in Canada.

Is there more to this story?