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AS ALL OF THE PROJECTS THAT ARE QUALIFIED TO REMAIN UNDER THIS GRANDFATHERED INTERCONNECTION PROCESS ARE AT OR BEYOND THE INTERCONNECTION IMPACT AND FACILITIES AGREEMENT STAGE, ALL OF THE STEPS OF LEADING UP TO THIS POINT ARE NO LONGER APPLICABLE.

Initial Meeting with BCTC Interconnections Office

Customers are strongly encouraged to meet with Market Operations staff prior to submitting an Application for Preliminary Study or a Generator Interconnection Application. An initial meeting is an ideal opportunity for BCTC staff to review the generator interconnection process with the customer, provide additional information to assist in completing the application, and discuss basic project particulars. This meeting will be provided at no cost.

To ensure maximum benefit from this initial meeting, providing project information such as size, location, technology, and the desired point of interconnection ahead of time to BCTC will be certainly be helpful in this regard. Any additional information that can be provided will also be beneficial.

A Transmission Planning Engineer will be in attendance at this meeting. He or she may be able to identify known, potential technical hurdles that your project may encounter based on the preliminary information provided. At this early stage however, the details of your project would have only been reviewed at a very high level, so no conclusions can be made regarding the technical feasibility of the project. The technical feasibility of a project can only be confirmed after detailed interconnection studies have been undertaken.

Any information that is shared with BCTC will be treated as confidential and will not be disclosed to other parties without the consent of the Customer.

Process Flowchart 

Path 1 or Path 2

At the initial stage of interconnection it is the Customer’s choice on which path they would like to proceed. It is not a BCTC requirement for a Preliminary Study to be performed. If the Customer is confident in their project's feasibility on both economic and technical levels, they can choose to submit an Interconnection Application and engage BCTC to begin the detailed Interconnection Impact and Facilities Studies. Most commonly however, Customers require the results of a Preliminary Study to evaluate the preliminary aspects of their project’s technical feasibility and to provide an estimate of the interconnection costs prior to investing in the more detailed interconnection studies.

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Application for Preliminary Study and the Preliminary Study Agreement

If a Customer has decided to pursue the path of a Preliminary Study for their project, their next step is to complete the Application for Preliminary Study (XLS, 68KB). Once they have forwarded it along with the required information, as shown on the application form, to the BCTC Market Operation’s office, the Customer will be notified within 10 days if the application is deficient. After the application has been submitted, an estimate for the cost of the study will be provided by BCTC to the Customer.

Both BCTC and the Customer will then sign a Preliminary Study Agreement (PDF, 19KB). This agreement formalizes the study request and outlines the terms and conditions of the study.

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Preliminary Study

The Preliminary Study evaluates the proposed generator system along with the facilities required to interconnect to the Transmission System. By means of power flow, short circuit and dynamic stability studies, the Preliminary Study will identify any potential impacts to the Transmission System and identify the facilities and equipment required to maintain its reliability and safety. The intended outcome of this study is to provide Customers with a preliminary indication of the technical feasibility of their project. The interconnection cost estimates arising out of this study are estimates only. They should be used for budgetary or planning purposes only and should not be considered as a quotation of actual interconnection costs.

Preliminary Study costs will vary with the complexity of the project. The Customer must provide full payment in advance of the Preliminary Study. The study costs will be reconciled after the completion of the study and will be billed on actual costs. Depending on the complexity of the project and the number of other project study requests under review, a typical study will be completed in 8 weeks.

At the completion of the Preliminary Study, BCTC will deliver a copy of the report to the Customer. The Customer will then have an indication whether the proposed project is economically and technically viable. The Customer will then make the decision whether to proceed with a formal Interconnection Application with BCTC.

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Generator Interconnection Application

A Generator Interconnection Equipment Statement (XLS, 147KB) is completed by the Customer once they have decided to have BCTC perform the detailed Interconnection Impact and Facilities Studies.  After this application has been received by BCTC, an estimate for the cost of the study will be provided to the Customer.

At this time it is customary for both parties, the Customer along with their engineering consultants and BCTC, to have a kick-off meeting to discuss and finalize the information that will relied upon for the Impact and Facilities Studies. This meeting also provides useful introductions between the Customer and the study team to ensure that defined and open communication channels exist throughout the process.

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Interconnection Impact Study and Facilities Study Agreement

The Interconnection Impact Study and Facilities Study Agreement (PDF, 22KB), like the Preliminary Study Agreement, serves the purpose of formalizing the study request and outlining the terms and conditions of the study. Although the Impact and Facilities Studies are separate from each other, due to the nature of them being carried out concurrently, a combined agreement is used for simplicity and convenience.

Process Flowchart 

Interconnection Impact Study

The Interconnection Impact Study (IIS) determines the technical feasibility of the Customer’s facilities connecting to the BC transmission system. The intended use of the Customer’s generation influences the extent of the study.

The IIS performs the following:

• Studies the transmission interconnection option and identifies any transmission constraints and required Network Upgrades.
• Load flow studies to assess thermal loading of the transmission system for normal and for specified single system contingencies. The load flow study also examines how the proposed project will interact with other generators on the system.
• Transient stability studies are performed to conclude the dynamic performance of the system including determining any requirement for Remedial Action Schemes.
• Short circuit studies to estimate the impact of fault levels.
• Protection and control studies.

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Interconnection Facilities Study

An Interconnection Facilities Study (IFS) makes use of the completed IIS to identify the specific BCTC interconnection facilities needed to connect the proposed project to the BC transmission system. It also identifies the facilities necessary to mitigate any of the resulting system impacts from that project.

The IFS performs the following:

• Defines the scope of the project.
• Determines the necessary modifications to the BC transmission system.
• Determines the cost of Direct Assignment and Network Upgrade facilities.
• Develops an interconnection construction schedule for completing the work.
• Develops the Project Interconnection Requirements.

The cost of the IIS and the IFS studies is borne by the Customer and varies with the complexity of the proposed project. The Customer must provide full payment, or a purchase order, in advance of the studies. Prior consent of the Customer will be required if study costs exceed the original estimate. The study costs will be reconciled after the completion of the studies and will be billed on actual costs. Depending on the complexity of the project and the number of other project study requests under review, a typical range of time for these detailed interconnection studies to be completed is 16 to 30 weeks.

At the completion of the Interconnection Impact and Facilities Studies, BCTC will deliver to the Customer a copy of the Impact and Facilities Study reports and the Project Interconnection Requirements. The Customer will then have an indication whether the proposed project is economically and technically feasible.

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Project Interconnection Requirements

Project Interconnection Requirements (PIR) are the specific technical requirements and obligations identified by BCTC that generation facilities must comply with in order to interconnect to the transmission system. The PIR is based on the 69 kV-500 kV Transmission Interconnection Requirements for Power Generators (PDF, 1.2MB) document produced by BC Hydro and subsequently adopted by BCTC. The PIR is developed as part of the Interconnections Facilities Study and later becomes an appendix to both the Facilities Agreement and the Interconnection Agreement.

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Facilities Agreement

The Facilities Agreement (FA) is required for projects involving significant work on the BC transmission system to accommodate the interconnection. The FA is a legal document stating the terms and conditions related to the design, construction and commissioning of BCTC facilities required for interconnection. The FA is designed to ensure agreement on the work BCTC will perform and/or material that BCTC will supply at the Customer’s expense.

The agreement is between the Customer and BCTC and remains in effect until the facilities identified in the FA are successfully commissioned. This agreement must be signed prior to BCTC commencing design to accommodate the new generation.

The following subject matter is detailed in the FA:

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Interconnection Agreement

BCTC prepares an Interconnection Agreement (IA) that is signed by the Customer and BCTC. The IA is a requirement for all generators synchronized to the BC transmission system. The IA is a legal document confirming the technical, operational and mutual requirements of both parties. This agreement must be signed prior to electrical connection with the BC transmission system, whether or not the sale of electricity is planned, and remains in effect until the Customer’s facilities are permanently disconnected from the BC transmission system. The IA will provide electrical connection to the BC transmission system but it does not give the Customer the right to inject power into the BC transmission system. Electricity transactions beyond the Point of Interconnection are permissible only after the Customer’s generation becomes a resource for a Wholesale Transmission Service (WTS) contract. A Generator Interconnection Application does not establish the Customer’s position in the WTS queue.

The following subject matter is detailed in the IA:

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Construction of Interconnection Facilities

Upon receipt of the acceptable securities and payment to cover BCTC’s cost of the interconnection facilities, BCTC will design and construct facilities to physically interconnect the generator to the BC transmission system as specified in the Facilities Agreement.

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Commissioning and Commercial Operation

Prior to any energization of the Customer’s equipment, BCTC prepares an Operating Order that defines the operating boundaries between the two parties and the procedures for Safety Protection Guarantees.

BCTC’s Field Co-ordinator carries out BCTC’s responsibilities for commissioning and acceptance of the generator to the BC transmission system.

The commissioning process is comprised of three steps:

• BCTC energizes the generating plant as a load;
• The generator is permitted to sychronize to the BC transmission system for on-line testing and;
• The generator has been successfully tested and meets BCTC’s technical requirements for interconnection as verified against the Project Interconnection Requirements. Assuming that the transmission service arrangements are in place, the generator begins commercial operation.

Each step is signed off with a “Declaration of Compatibility” form by BCTC and the Customer.

Process Flowchart