Mica Dam

 hydroelectric power station  Add category

 Upload a photo

Mica Dam and hydroelectric station on the Columbia River. Forms Kinbasket Lake. One of the largest earthfill dams in the world (800 feet high), and its underground powerhouse was the largest in the world at time of its construction.

Mica is one of four dams in B.C. that regulate the flow of the Columbia. Three of the dams, Mica, Hugh Keenleyside and Duncan, were built as a result of the Columbia River Treaty, signed by Canada and the United States in 1964. The Treaty dams provided badly needed flood control, made possible development of power plants on the Columbia and its tributaries in B.C., and increased the potential for power generation at plants in the United States.

Mica, completed in 1973, is the largest of the Treaty projects and the only one in Canada designed from the beginning to generate power (a generating station was later added to Keenleyside). Located about 135 km by road north of Revelstoke, Mica has an installed capacity of 1,805 MW from four generating units. BC Hydro is now installing two additional generating units, which will add about 1000 MW of additional capacity. When the project is completed in 2014, Mica will be BC Hydro's largest facility.

www.bchydro.com/planning_regulatory/projects/mica_gener...