Seeds of Change: AltaLink’s Largest Wildland Reclamation Work in Banff National Park

Seeds of Change

AltaLink’s largest wildland reclamation work in Banff National Park

- By Amanda Sadleir -

Manager, Corporate Communications, AltaLink

For AltaLink, the big news story really started way back in 2009, when plans were drawn up for what became the most extensive wilderness reclamation project in the company’s history. Senior Project Manager Brent

Sandhu has been involved since the beginning of this project to rebuild AltaLink’s transmission line, called 551L, in Banff

National Park.

“We had four years of planning before we got the go-ahead from Parks Canada in 2016. The 551L transmission line needed to be rebuilt through difficult mountain terrain, while running through a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Canada’s premier national park. That meant conducting tree and other vegetation management along a 60-kilometre right-of-way with great sensitivity to wildlife, plants and aquatic habitats,” explains Sandhu. The 551L transmission line connects the Banff and Lake Louise substations, passing through highly sensitive ecological regions of the Bow Valley within Banff National Park. It provides power to a host of world class tourist amenities that service more than four million visitors per year. The goal of the rebuild was to reduce the number of power outages to these tourist destinations and minimize tree contacts with the line to ensure the safety and reliability of the transmission system in this area for years to come.

AltaLink’s team of subject matter experts, in collaboration with Parks Canada, put together a one-of-a-kind Detailed Impact Analysis (DIA) that identified every meticulous detail of the environmental constraints along the 450 structure locations on the existing right-of-way. Due to encroaching trees, erosion and flooding in some areas, site specific mitigations were proposed. Specialists in wildlife, vegetation, aquatics and cultural resources all contributed to the development and approval of the DIA.

With the transmission line being situated between two world famous tourist destinations, the DIA also addressed mitigations related to preserving the public visitor experience and the natural aesthetics along the Bow Valley Parkway, including a visibility analysis from popular lookout locations.

As in all ecologically sensitive areas in which AltaLink operates, the team worked with biological and botanical experts to identify important ecosystem components. Then, using specialized equipment and best management practices, work continued through winter months to minimize the impacts on those ecosystems.

During construction, a significant backup power generation system was put in place at the Lake Louise Substation in order to maintain service through the construction period. This backup system, given its size, needed to be approved by both Parks Canada and the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC). The system included a football field of 55-foot-long generators capable of delivering 10 million watts of power to the Village of Lake Louise and areas west of Banff.

Construction for the rebuild was complete in March 2020, however, rehabilitating the right-of-way to reflect the ecological integrity of the national park was a major piece of this project.

Reclamation was unique due to the need to collect seeds from the area ahead of the reclamation work and grow them in a nursery for up to three years. The seedlings were then brought back to the right-of-way and planted to maintain the ecological integrity of the national park. While the construction of the line is complete, we at AltaLink are all anxiously waiting to see the results of the seedlings’ growth within the right-of-way.

“AltaLink has committed to three years of post-construction reclamation monitoring with Parks Canada,” Sandhu said. “This is to ensure reclamation has been successful.”

The 551L Transmission Line Rebuild in Banff National Park represents a number of unique components for AltaLink. The comprehensive DIA looked at multiple facets of the impacts during construction as well as the rehabilitation phases of the project. It was the first time the company had to ask the AUC for approval of a temporary power source, and it is the largest wildland reclamation work AltaLink has undertaken to date.

The 551L upgrade is an excellent example of AltaLink embracing all components of providing safe, reliable and costeffective electricity in a truly sustainable manner.

AltaLink is Alberta’s largest electricity transmission provider. AltaLink is partnering with its customers to provide innovative solutions to meet the province’s demand for reliable and affordable energy. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, AltaLink is part of a global group of companies delivering energy services to customers worldwide.

Resilient Grids. Strong Networks. Safe Energy.

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