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B.C. Hydro assures the public underground substations are safe and the new ones will be safer yet because they will use an inert gas (called SF6) for insulation instead of the traditional, and volatile, oil.

“Gas-insulated transformers are a relatively new technology in North America,” Andrew Leonard, project manager for the new substations, said. “The risk of potential fire or explosions basically goes to zero.”

Even with oil-insulated transformers, the risk of fire is rare.

That’s why when there was an explosion and fire at B.C. Hydro’s Kidd2 substation on No. 4 Road in Richmond in 2015, engineers rushed to study it.

“We went to look at it, it’s so rare, but it has happened,” Paul Luoca, senior vice-president at Lex Engineering, said. “I’ve never dealt with gas insulation, but it would mean less mess if there’s a fault, no oil spilled, so very limited fire danger, probably.

Photo by B.C. Hydro / PNG

“This could be a win-win situation, but it’s got to be done right.”

Substations take 230,000 volts of electricity and lower its voltage before power is distributed to buildings. Hydro estimates there will be power shortages downtown by 2028 if new substations aren’t built.

The Cathedral Square substation at Richards and Dunsmuir is one of three currently servicing downtown and was the first underground substation built in North America, in 1984.

Since then, one was built in Anaheim in 2007 and one is being built near the base of the CN Tower, which will be operational this year.