| Overview
The Sechelt Creek Generating Station is a 16MW run-of-river “Greenfield” development on Sechelt Creek, 25km northeast of the town of Sechelt, British Columbia. Sechelt Creek is an alpine watercourse that flows westward to the Pacific Ocean via Salmon Inlet, a steep and rugged fiord. The power plant operates in a remote forest location accessible only by boat or float-plane, with materials for the construction of the plant having been transported to the site by barge.
A unique double intake structure conveys water to the powerhouse from high in the valley on both Jackson and Sechelt Creeks. The control structure at the Sechelt Creek intake consists of a 25m wide concrete gated spillway with an Obermeyer bladder gate of variable height. The gate structure is designed to lay flat, facilitating the passage of gravel and other bedload to the downstream environment. Flows at the Jackson Creek intake structure are controlled by a mechanical crank lift sluice gate. Penstocks from the two intake structures converge into a single penstock that followed existing forest access tracks and is buried for almost its entire length.
The Sechelt Creek Powerhouse is architecturally designed to resemble a traditional Salish long house two pole structure. It houses two 8MW vertical pelton turbines with four jets connected to synchronous generators. These units are particularly useful in that they can be operated to meet varying stream flows from 0.2 to 6 cubic metres per second, maximizing their use in dynamic, rainfall responsive catchments. The units are also resistant to sand and other particulate matter in the feed water.
|
