Mica Dam is a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

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 and ...

spanning the

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

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 sout ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. 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, 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, with the excep ...

. 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, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...

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 extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

minerals in the area, is one of the largest

earthfill dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

s in the world. The

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

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 tw ...

. Water from the dam flows south directly into

Revelstoke Lake Lake Revelstoke or Revelstoke Lake or Revelstoke Lake Reservoir is an artificial lake on the Columbia River, north of the town of Revelstoke, British Columbia and south of Mica Creek. This lake is the reservoir formed by the Revelstoke Dam, whi ...

, the reservoir for the

Revelstoke Dam The 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 ...

. Mica Dam is the tallest dam in

and second tallest in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

after the

Chicoasén Dam The Chicoasén Dam (officially known as Manuel Moreno Torres) is an embankment dam and hydroelectric power station on the Grijalva River near Chicoasén in Chiapas, Mexico. The dam's power plant, officially named for Manuel Moreno Torres, cont ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

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 t ...

(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 be ...

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 in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Duncan Dam was the first dam built to satisfy the Columbia River Treaty, initiated after the 1948 flood along the lower Columbia, which proved fatal at ...

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 is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, gas ...

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 Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is d ...

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 a ...

, British Columbia, Canada. The creation of Kinbasket Lake submerged parts of the

Big Bend Country In the Canadian province of British Columbia, Big Bend Country is the region around the northernmost section of the Columbia River, which changes from a northwestward course along the Rocky Mountain Trench to curve around the northern end of the S ...

, a subregion of the

Columbia Country Columbia Country refers to the upper basin of the Columbia River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It includes a smaller region known as the Columbia Valley, near the river's headwaters at Columbia Lake in the Rocky Mountain Trench, ...

. This included a number of small communities along the

Big Bend Highway The Big Bend Highway is a former highway in the interior of British Columbia, was the original alignment of British Columbia Highway 1, Highway 1 (Hwy 1) which followed the Columbia River between Revelstoke, British Columbia, Revelstoke and ...

, and the eastern section of that route. Also, the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , 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 Canadi ...

(CP) line ran along the Columbia Valley from

Donald Donald is a masculine given name 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 misinterpretation of the ...

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 Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to constr ...

(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 for extraction of milk * Pumping (audio), a creative misuse of dynamic range compression * Pumping (computer systems), the ...

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 an under construction hydroelectric dam on the Peace River, 14 kilometres southwest of Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located approximately 80 kilometres downstream from the W. A. C. Bennett Dam. ...

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