Nunavut community to expand solar project with new federal funds

Kugluktuk’s arena complex, pictured here in 2017, has been fitted with 144 new solar panels, bringing its capacity up to 60 kilowatts. (PHOTO COURTESY OF HAMLET OF KUGLUKTUK)

The Hamlet of Kugluktuk received an early Christmas present this year: funding to expand the array of solar panels on the community’s arena complex.

On Dec. 21, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and the Government of Nunavut announced a $403,000 grant for the energy project in the western Nunavut community.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada funded the original installation last year—a 10-kilowatt pilot project on the arena’s roof, designed to collect one year of data.

The new funding will pay for 20 additional solar arrays, or 144 panels, on the building to increase the project’s capacity by another 50 kilowatts.

“This will reduce costs associated with powering the facility by approximately $64,000 per year and offset approximately 70,000 litres of diesel per year,” CanNor said in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

The project will translate into long-term financial savings for the Hamlet, but also mark a drop in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Renewable energy helps to mitigate climate change, reduce the territory’s reliance on diesel and can reduce energy costs for Nunavummiut,” said Nunavut’s minister of environment, Elisapie Sheutiapik, in a Dec. 21 release.

“Our government supports projects that build a sustainable energy future for Nunavut.”

The funding also includes a “smart meter” to track energy usage and the efficiency of the new installation. Two hamlet employees will be trained to maintain and monitor the solar array, CanNor said.