Overall project health

As of December 31, 2022, overall Project health remained “amber.” The Project is approximately 72% complete; and work continues to advance; however, there are still potential risks remaining. BC Hydro continues to review, assess, mitigate, manage and monitor potential risks to the Project.

Safety

Safety remained “amber” as of December 31, 2022. This reporting period ends the busiest year to date on the Project, with multiple active work fronts and contractors across both the dam site and off dam site. Refer to section 3.1.8 of the annual report for a summary of safety and regulatory performance metrics.

In anticipation of 2022 being a peak construction year, the Project undertook six site specific safety reviews looking at current and active construction safety concerns. The six reviews were on regulatory compliance, construction roads, construction power, wildfires, structure fires, and risk tolerance culture. These reviews were completed by independent experts; the findings were reviewed internally and appropriate measures have been actioned to close the gaps identified.

BC Hydro continued to conduct contractor safety verifications and field based safe work observations as a priority during 2022.

COVID-19 remained manageable at site during 2022. Employers and workers continued to use the rapid testing program for symptomatic workers. BC Hydro suspended its COVID-19 mandatory vaccination policy on September 26, 2022, for employees and contractors, which included workers on the Site C Project. This reflected the changing nature of the pandemic, diminished risk factors, and the success of the vaccination policy.

Scope

Scope status remained “amber” as of December 31, 2022. Provisions are included in the Project plans for potential scope adjustments for site conditions and interfaces. As construction progresses, there remains a risk of design changes due to unknown field conditions.

Schedule

Schedule status remained “amber” as of December 31, 2022. The Project is currently on schedule to achieve the approved 2025 inservice date and is approximately 72% complete, however, a significant amount of work and potential schedule risks remain.

BC Hydro and Site C contractors have agreed to revised schedules, which recover certain schedule delays due to COVID-19 and provide three potential schedule scenarios for tunnel conversion and reservoir fill including the potential for an earlier in-service date. All potential schedule scenarios include risks and uncertainty; the scenario that potentially results in an earlier in-service date has a higher level of uncertainty and risk. Significant construction activities remain, which if not completed on time, could adversely affect the construction schedule.

Cost

Cost status remained “amber” as of December 31, 2022. Potential cost risks remain, as detailed in this report.

As of December 31, 2022, the life-to-date actual costs are $10.5 billion, which results in an estimated $5.5 billion of remaining costs.

Quality

The quality rating for the Project remained “green” as of December 31, 2022, indicating that the work generally conforms to the requirements of the drawings and specifications. When a quality issue is identified during the course of construction, BC Hydro and its contractors work to rectify the issue to ensure that the quality of the completed work achieves the quality specifications.

The Technical Advisory Board and independent international dam experts continued to review and confirm that the Project designs are appropriate, safe and serviceable over the long operating life of Site C.

Regulatory, Permits and Tenures

The regulatory, permits and tenures indicator status remained “green” as of December 31, 2022. Overall, BC Hydro continues to be issued permits and authorizations in accordance with construction timelines. As of December 31, 2022, 601 of the estimated 648 provincial and federal permits required for the Project have been received and are actively being managed.

Environment

The Project environment status remained “amber” as of December 31, 2022, due to the unresolved April 2022 potentially acid-generating rock Environmental Assessment Office order and a warning letter received on September 26, 2022.

BC Hydro worked with the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office to address the order and letter. BC Hydro is seeking an amendment to the Site C Construction Environmental Management Plan to clarify that the current approaches to managing potentially acid-generating rock provide adequate environmental protection. Additionally, BC Hydro is developing final treatment plans for potentially acid-generating sites that will not be addressed through dam construction or the creation of the reservoir.

Procurement

The procurement indicator status remained “amber” as of December 31, 2022, due to the remaining right bank foundation enhancements procurements that still need to be negotiated.

The majority of the commercial agreements are scheduled to be in place by summer 2023.

Indigenous Relations

The Indigenous Relations indicator status remained “amber” as of December 31, 2022. BC Hydro has a mandate from the Government of British Columbia to reach project or impact benefits agreements with the 10 Indigenous groups that are most impacted by Site C. Eight of 10 agreements are fully executed and in implementation. BC Hydro has a standing offer to negotiate with the remaining two First Nations that have not signed agreements related to the Site C Project. BC Hydro also maintains a working relationship with those Nations through ongoing consultation and engagement.

Consultation is ongoing with impacted First Nations regarding options and site-specific plans for managing identified burial and cultural sites impacted by reservoir filling, in particular in the Halfway River and Cache Creek / Bear Flats areas.

Stakeholder Engagement

The stakeholder engagement indicator status remained “green” as of December 31, 2022. BC Hydro continues to work with the communities, regional district and stakeholder groups on the implementation of various community agreements. Significant engagement occurred with residents and elected officials from the community of Old Fort and the District of Hudson’s Hope throughout the latter half of 2022.