British Columbia okays 19 projects in clean power push

Watch CNBC-TV18 live only on MYTV >>

British Columbia has given the green light to 19 private-sector clean energy projects that will generate enough power to supply nearly 218,000 homes in Canada's Pacific Coast province. The approvals, announced late on Thursday by BC Hydro, the government-owned electricity utility, mark the first phase in the provincial government's long-delayed push to generate more green power.

Fourteen of the 19 proposals are 14 run-of-river hydroelectric projects, in which river water is diverted through turbines to produce power without the use of dams. The remainder are wind power projects. Combined, the projects will generate more than 2,400 gigawatt hours of electricity annually. Another 28 projects remain under consideration, said BC Hydro, which will announce additional awards in late March. The utility's target in the program is 5,000 gigawatt hours a year of clean power.

After four of its wind projects, with a combined capacity of 293 megawatts, got the green light, shares of tiny Finavera Renewable Inc soared 128.5 percent to 16 Canadian cents on the TSX Venture Exchange on Friday. In contrast, shares of Plutonic Power Corp shed 4 percent after its Upper Toba Valley run-of-river project in a wilderness area on the Pacific Coast was selected. Macquarie Capital Marks analyst Steve Harris said the market was likely surprised by Plutonic's decision to cut one of three planned facilities from Upper Toba Valley due to transmission constraint concerns.

Plutonic, whose project partner is GE Energy Financial Services, also said earlier this week that it had withdrawn its Bute Inlet proposal so that it could collect more data while advancing project studies and permit efforts. Plutonic stock was down 14 Canadian cents at C$3.34 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday afternoon.