Overall project health

The overall Project health remains “amber.” The Project is approximately 84% 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 status remains “amber.” During the reporting period, the Project saw a decrease in workforce numbers as work fronts were completed. The majority of the remaining work continues to take place in and around the powerhouse. Compared to the same period in 2022, the Project safety performance metrics for lost time injury frequency and all injury frequency remained consistent. There was a slight improvement in the safety metric for serious incident frequency.

Scope

Scope status remains “amber.” 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 remains “amber.” The Project is currently on schedule to achieve the approved 2025 final unit in-service date and is approximately 84% complete.

With the completion of tunnel conversion in September 2023, there was a possibility that reservoir filling could start in late fall 2023, one year earlier than the approved schedule. However, as of early November 2023, there continued to be some critical work areas that still needed to be completed before reservoir filling could begin, including the approach channel, spillway gates and powerhouse intake gates. With winter weather and colder conditions setting in, the window to safely begin reservoir filling was coming to close. On November 14, 2023, BC Hydro made the decision to stay on track with the approved Project schedule. Work on the Site C Project continues to advance on schedule with reservoir filling planned in fall 2024. As a result of the advancement of construction work through 2023, reservoir filling may be initiated in late-August 2024, depending on weather, environmental and system conditions.

There continues to be uncertainty related to achieving the contractual schedules, and there are potential risks that could adversely affect these schedules.

The time available to complete the remaining scopes of work is expected to be sufficient for the Project to meet the approved schedule.

Cost

Cost status remains “amber.” Potential cost risks remain, as detailed in this report.

As of December 31, 2023, the life-to-date actual costs are $12.9 billion, which results in an estimated $3.1 billion of remaining costs based on the forecast of $16 billion.

Quality

The quality status for the Project remains “green,” 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 status remains “green.” Overall, BC Hydro continued to be issued permits and authorizations in accordance with construction timelines. As of December 31, 2023, 633 of the estimated 671 provincial and federal permits and authorizations required for the Project have been received and are actively being managed. This includes all required regulatory approvals to commence reservoir filling.

Environment

The Project environment status changed to “green” from “amber” in the previous reporting period.

During this quarter, as a follow up to the April 2022 potentially acid-generating rock Environmental Assessment Office order and subsequent warning letter received in September 2022, the Environmental Assessment Office determined that the revised Site C Construction Environmental Management Plan was acceptable. BC Hydro issued the Plan as final and posted it to the Project website on October 24, 2023. BC Hydro will continue to work with the Environmental Assessment Office on how to interpret the revised Plan and the order, and the order’s status. The Environmental Assessment office has confirmed that enforcement against the order will not occur.

BC Hydro continues to develop 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 status remains “amber” due to a number of remaining procurements that still need to be negotiated.

The majority of the Project’s commercial agreements to deliver the right bank foundation enhancements are in place, with a few remaining commercial agreements for smaller scopes of work expected to be awarded by the spring 2024.

Indigenous Relations

The Indigenous Relations status remains “amber.” BC Hydro has a mandate from the Government of British Columbia to reach Project or impact benefit 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 consultations and engagement.

Stakeholder Engagement

The stakeholder engagement status remains “green.” BC Hydro continues to work with the communities, regional district and stakeholder groups on the implementation of various community agreements.