Work will begin this spring on overhead power line upgrades that will support a new underwater cable connecting Salt Spring and North Pender Island, expected to go live in September.
BC Hydro confirmed this week the project was going forward, with plans for 11 kilometres of cable between Welbury Bay and Port Washington placed along the sandy parts of the ocean floor in Captain Passage and Swanson Channel.
The new cable is meant to improve flexibility and reliability in electrical service for Salt Spring, Pender, Saturna, Mayne and Galiano islands, according to the utility, as well as provide infrastructure for future growth.
BC Hydro said the on-land upgrades on Salt Spring and Pender are expected to begin early this year, although exact timing is still to be confirmed; the submarine cable installation is planned for this summer. The route was designed to avoid rock outcrop, according to Transport Canada, who has said it expects the installation, once begun, will take approximately six days.
The project has been planned since 2022, although engineering and environmental studies weren’t completed until last year — alongside some civil construction on both islands, according to BC Hydro.
The Welbury Bay project will likely run concurrently with a submarine cable realignment, replacing the current connection between Beaver Point on Salt Spring and Irene Bay on North Pender with a new line running instead to Thieves Bay on North Pender. That change is meant to bring power closer to the area of highest use on North Pender, according to BC Hydro, and is also expected to be in service this fall.