Operating since 2018, the Nicknaqueet River Hydropower Project is a 350 kW run-of-river facility that has displaced approximately 92% of the annual diesel fuel consumption used for electricity generation in Wuikinuxv. Barkley Project Group has supported all phases of this project, including conceptual design, engineering, construction, and operations. Along the way, Wuikinuxv citizens have been involved in many aspects of the project, providing valuable services such as heavy-machine operation, environmental monitoring and supervisory support.
BPG acted as Project Manager and Construction Manager during the development and construction phases of the project and continues to support Wuikinuxv in a hydropower operations management capacity.
Since the 1960s Wuikinuxv Elders and citizens have advocated for a hydropower project to offset the over $1 Million spent every year on diesel. Not only is the fuel expensive and polluting to burn, but transport to site also involves a barge journey to the mouth of one of the most storied Salmon-bearing watersheds on the BC coast. With the completion of Nicknaqueet Hydro, diesel fuel consumption for power generation has been drastically reduced and is only necessary a few weeks of the year. The power supplied for the project provides critical electrical generation capacity for new economic activities and community growth. It is a foundational piece of infrastructure that will underpin community development of decades to come.
This project has received support from the Province of BC, the New Relationship Trust, Coast Funds, and Indigenous Services Canada.
Wuikinuxv First Nation is harnessing small-scale hydro to replace diesel fuel | The Narwhal
