BC Hydro Customer Connection Project: Cowichan District Hospital Electrification

in progress

BC Hydro’s customer, Island Health, is building the Cowichan District Hospital Replacement project on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Construction on the hospital is expected to begin in 2023; it’s anticipated the new hospital will open to patients in 2027. The new hospital will have capacity for 204 patient beds and will be the first fully electric hospital in British Columbia. The BC Hydro Customer Connection Project: Cowichan District Hospital Electrification (the project) includes the design and construction of the necessary electrical infrastructure to enable electrification of the hospital. This project will allow BC Hydro to supply the Cowichan District Hospital with 6.75 megawatts (MW) of clean and renewable electricity. In addition, the two circuits that will deliver electricity from BC Hydro’s Prevost substation to the hospital will have additional capacity to feed other residential and commercial customers in the surrounding community. The purpose of this project is to deliver the necessary electrical infrastructure to enable electrification of the Cowichan District Hospital Replacement project. Specifically, the project scope includes the extension of two 12 kilovolt circuits from BC Hydro’s Prevost substation to serve the new hospital. At a high level, this includes: • Construction of approximately 1,000 metres of civil conduit from the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway East along Herd Road, then South along Bell McKinnon Road to the Cowichan District Hospital site; • Installation of approximately 2,000 metres of new electrical feeder cable; • Relocation of approximately 10-20 spans of overhead power distribution lines to underground along Bell McKinnon Road; and, • All related works.