TORONTO (miningweekly.com) - The British Columbia Utilities Commission has approved Teck Resources' sale of a one-third interest in the Waneta Dam to the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority for C$825-million.

The commission concluded that the expenditure proposed by BC Hydro in connection with the transaction was in the public interest.

With the condition of regulatory approval now met, Teck expects to close the transaction within the next 10 business days, the company said in a statement.

The Waneta hydro-electric power plant supplies power to Teck's Trail metallurgical operation, and the company announced plans to sell the one-third stake in June last year, as part of its programme of divesting noncore assets to repay debt.

The company took on $9,8-billion in debt - a $5,8-billion bridging loan and a $4-billion term facility - to acquire Fording Canadian Coal Trust in 2008.

However, after offloading a number of assets, completing a successful bond issue and selling a 17% stake in itself to the government-owned China Investment Corp, most of the Fording debt has now been shifted.

The Waneta dam is located on the Pend Oreille river. Its four generating units total 490 MW of capacity and produce an average of 2 800 gigawatt hours of energy per year.

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