Syntaris Power

Vancouver, British Columbia—Syntaris Power Corp. announced today that it will continue to advance development of its Kinskuch Hydro Project even though it was not accepted in the BC Hydro Clean Call for Power (CPC).

The 76 megawatt Kinskuch Hydro Project is located approximately 50 km east of Stewart and is situated near the proposed route of the Northwest Transmission Line. It was entered into the CPC on November 25, 2008 along with two other projects in partnership with HydroMax, the British Columbia division of the Alberta-based utility ENMAX. One of the projects, Culliton Creek (15MW), received an energy purchase agreement from BC Hydro in March.

“While we are disappointed with BC Hydro’s position on this matter, we are already reviewing our options,” says Syntaris Power’s President and CEO Robert Fraser. “We believe that because of its size, its power-on-demand capabilities and its proximity to the proposed Northwest Transmission Line, the Kinskuch Hydro Project can contribute to the success of the BC government’s Clean Energy Act by creating new jobs and stimulating economic development, specifically for rural communities in the Northwest region of the province,” he adds.

The new Clean Energy Act (Bill 17) sets out sixteen specific energy objectives meant to strengthen the province’s legislated goal of electricity self-sufficiency by 2016. It plans to harness B.C.’s clean energy potential to enable economic growth, create new jobs across the province, and provide opportunities for First Nations to create investment and jobs in renewable power production. It also intends to secure long-term export power sales to other jurisdictions. To do this, the government plans on partnering with renewable power producers in British Columbia.

Upon completion, the Kinskuch Hydro Project would generate an estimated total of 270 GWh of “on-demand” renewable electricity, create approximately 300 person years of employment during the construction of the project, drive economic growth throughout the region and provide significant long-term revenue to government through ongoing taxes and other operating fees during the life of the contract.

The project is currently in the midst of the Environmental Assessment process with the provincial government and the company having conducted fish, hydrological, LIDAR and preliminary geotechnical studies. “In the coming weeks we will meet with business and First Nations partners and local community groups to find new avenues to advance this excellent hydro storage project through the process,” says Fraser. “We will also meet with BC Hydro to determine what we need to do to satisfy its requirements,” he adds.

The Kinskuch Hydro Project qualifies as clean or renewable energy in accordance with the guidelines published by the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. For more information on the project, click here.

About Syntaris Power Corp.
Syntaris Power Corp. is a Vancouver-based green energy company committed to sourcing, developing and operating clean, renewable hydroelectric projects in the Province of British Columbia. The Company’s impressive development portfolio, representing about 500 MW of potential projects, can provide socio-economic benefits to First Nations and local communities. Successful development of these projects would help British Columbia achieve its required goal of energy self-sufficiency by 2016 and create a legacy of clean, renewable power for future generations. For more information about Syntaris Power, visit the company website at www.syntaris.com

Forward Looking Information: The information contained in this news release may contain forward looking statements. Forward looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

Dave Cobb, one of the key executives during the Vancouver Olympics, is expected to be named the CEO of BC Hydro.

The appointment, which has yet to be announced, would make him the second executive from the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to take a major role in the public utility. Dan Doyle, who oversaw the building of Olympic venues, was appointed Hydro’s chairman in July, before the Games.

Cobb is a chartered accountant by training. But he was best known as the chief operating officer of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team and Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment. One of his major files during the Olympics was creating a ticketing system to ensure as many seats were filled as possible.

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Review will determine impacts of project expected to exceed $6 billion

Premier Gordon Campbell put an indelible stamp on his time as leader of British Columbia on Monday, announcing his government is instructing BC Hydro to move forward with the Site C dam project on the Peace River.

The cost of the project is uncertain, although it seems likely to exceed $6 billion, and the Liberals are promising to enact new legislation that would make a 900-megawatt Site C development the last, large-scale hydroelectric storage dam ever built in British Columbia.

The project is expected to generate 35,000 direct and indirect jobs, and to come into service in 2020 — provided it passes independent environmental assessments by provincial and federal agencies, as well as gaining enough support from first nations to avert the risk of a protracted court challenge.

At a celebratory announcement staged at the historic W.A.C. Bennett Dam near Hudson’s Hope in northeast B.C., upstream of the proposed location for Site C, Campbell said the dam will be developed as a public project creating lasting benefits for northern communities and first nations.

By Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun

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Two run-of-river projects near Squamish have been awarded electricity purchase agreements in the second phase of B.C. Hydro’s call for clean power proposals.

The power authority announced on March 31 that it has awarded purchase contracts to run-of-river facilities on Culliton Creek and the Mamquam watershed. Both come in under 49 MW and thus neither requires an environmental assessment administered by the Environmental Assessment Office (EAO).

Alberta’s Enmax Corporation and Syntaris Power, a Vancouver-based green energy company, is promoting the Culliton Creek project. The run-of-river facility is to be located about 20 kilometres north of Squamish and generate a total capacity of 15 MW.

An intake at a high elevation will divert water from Culliton Creek into a penstock that leads to a single powerhouse. The water will then return to the creek upstream of the Highway 99 bridge crossing known locally as BOB.

Though it doesn’t have to undergo an environmental assessment mandated by the EAO, a spokeswoman for Syntaris said the company is working on a development plan submission that she said will be available for public review. The assessment for this project only requires it to go through the Integrated Land Management Bureau and the Ministry of Environment.

She went on to say that environmental studies begun in 1996 indicate that there are no fish present above the Culliton bridge. There are, however, numerous fish species, including salmon, downstream of the project and Syntaris has committed to restoring vegetation along the creek once construction is completed.

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