By The Canadian Press

Nanaimo company receives $33 million contract to help build Site C dam

Mar 16, 2018 | 5:26 PM

VANCOUVER — A Nanaimo company is reaping the benefits of continued construction on the Site C dam. 

BC Hydro announced a $33 million contract to Nanaimo-based F&M Installations to build a substation for the massive dam project.

The local company was awarded the contract along with many other companies across B.C, totalling $1.6 billion.

The funding came just three months after the BC NDP government reluctantly allowed the megaproject to go ahead, saying they had no alternative but to complete Site C rather than absorb the $4 billion cost of scrapping it.

It’s expected the new contracts will lead to the employment of as many as 1,600 workers during peak construction times in 2021. BC Hydro said the priority will be given to Indigenous applicants and those from northeastern B.C.

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It’s unknown how many from Vancouver Island will be hired by F&M Installations for this project.

The dam, the third across the Peace River, will flood an 83-kilometre stretch of valley west of Fort St. John.

It was originally estimated to cost $8.3 billion, but Friday’s contract announcement from Hydro projects a revised budget of $10.7 billion. 

When complete, BC Hydro estimated Site C will provide enough power to heat and light as many as 450,000 homes a year.

The Canadian Press