Rio Tinto has completed the Kemano T2 hydropower project by commissioning a second tunnel to bring water into the Kemano Powerhouse in British Columbia.
After the construction was concluded in May 2022, the new 16-kilometre tunnel was filled with water and produced its first megawatt of electricity in July 2022. Both T1 and T2 are fully operational, assuring the long-term stability of Rio Tinto’s BC Works aluminium smelter in Kitimat and surrounding communities.
Rio Tinto estimates that the project provided $850 million to the BC economy and employed 340 people at its peak.
Rio Tinto BC Works Director Energy and Watershed Partnerships Andrew Czornohalan said: “The completion of a second tunnel to supply water to the Kemano hydropower facility will ensure the long-term, sustainable production of low-carbon aluminium at our smelter in Kitimat. This extraordinary construction feat is the result of the work of generations of workers over three decades. Partnerships with local communities and the Cheslatta Carrier Nation have been instrumental in the project’s success. I want to thank all our employees and contractors who worked so hard since day one to make this achievement happen.”
The original tunnel was built in the 1950s and ran independently for over 70 years. Tahtsa Lake also had a 50-metre-long intake stub tunnel at the time, but development on the second tunnel began in the early 1990s. After 8.4 kilometres, the project was paused in 1995, then restarted in 2018 to renovate the initial segment of the tunnel and complete the remaining 7.6 kilometres. The Cheslatta Carrier Nation named this final portion of the tunnel tl’ughus after a fabled gigantic monster snake, and it took 30 months to complete.
Avalanche gear, swiftwater and marine survival suits for search and rescue teams, and other excess equipment were donated by Rio Tinto to regional First Nations and community organisations in Kitimat, Terrace, and other communities throughout the Nechako Watershed as part of the project’s demobilisation.
