Power link primed for green light

Sea Breeze awaits loan guarantee, approvals for $480-million project

Sea Breeze Power Corp.'s plan to link power grids on Vancouver Island and Washington state with a 550-megawatt power cable across Juan de Fuca Strait remains years away as the project still requires a massive influx of money and some minor regulatory approval before becoming a reality.

According to chief executive Paul Manson, Sea Breeze is still waiting for approval of a $480-million loan guarantee from the U.S. government, which would allow the company to finally get started on a project it has been considering since 2003.

"If it's accepted, and in the full amount, it would provide virtually all the funding required for construction of the cable," said Manson, reached yesterday in Toronto.

But Manson noted that a decision on the loan application, submitted Dec. 22, is unlikely to be made until the summer, meaning the 26-month construction time period wouldn't be complete until late 2012.

The project is essentially a new route for power to flow between B.C. and the U.S.

Manson argues it would increase the reliability of the Island's power supply while offering U.S. markets for independent power producers, such as wind farms, based on the Island.

The project, which Sea Breeze had at one time hoped would be in operation by the winter of 2008, has seen its costs balloon in recent years.

Manson said a confluence of factors -- increased commodity prices, currency exchange rates and inflationary pressure among them -- have driven the cost up to $480 million from the $250 million anticipated in late 2006.

But there's more than money that could still hold up the cable.