BC Hydro is looking into if the extreme heat in late June is behind the damage of a submarine cable that delivers power to Vancouver Island.
On July 8, BC Hydro’s monitoring system detected a bulge and oil leak in one of its submarine cables, which extends from the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver Island. During the June heatwave, temperatures exceeded 40 C in many parts of Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
The energy corporation said the cable has been taken out of service and repairs are underway. Meanwhile, the oil leak has been contained. No customers have been impacted at this time.
Over the weekend, BC Hydro also found that there was some bulging of two other cables. As a result, the energy company said it has decided to reduce the load on these cables and has been monitoring their performance.
Available generation capacity in the area, as well as independent power producers, are being used to meet customer demand. BC Hydro said it is also informing its largest industrial customers of this challenge in the event they need to reduce load in the future.
@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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