Ottawa helps pay for Nunavut power plant upgrades

Peter Mackey, the president of the Qulliq Energy Corp., speaks with reporters in Iqaluit Feb. 8. The corporation and the federal government will spend a total of $14 million over two years to replace eight diesel power generators across Nunavut. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

The Qulliq Energy Corp. will spend $14 million over two years to replace diesel generators at eight of its power plants across Nunavut.

At a news conference in Iqaluit, Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq said the new generators produce fewer emissions and use less fuel.

They’ll also be fitted to eventually connect into residual heating systems.

“The investments will have significant environmental and economic benefits,” Aglukkaq said.

The federal government, through the new Canadian Northern Development Agency, is chipping in $5.8 million for the project.

Arviat, Cambridge Bay, Chesterfield Inlet, Gjoa Haven, Pond Inlet, Rankin Inlet, Resolute Bay and Whale Cove will get new generators, either this sea-lift season or in 2011, said Peter Mackey, Qulliq’s president.

The new generators are better suited for Nunavut’s power plants, which makes them better able to match changes to the demand for power.

All told, Mackey said the power corporation will be able to save 1.6 million litres of diesel per year. Nunavut power plants burn through 46 million litres of diesel every year and that accounts for nearly half of QEC’s expenses, he added.

“We’re effectively able to reduce our carbon footprint by reducing the fuel consumption that we’re going to be using,” he said.

Many of Nunavut’s power plants are aging and Mackey said the new generators will also be more reliable than the current facilities.

Reliability has been a problem in the past, like in February 2008 when a series of malfunctions crippled Rankin Inlet’s power plant, leaving able to meet only one-third of the hamlet’s demand. That left the town with rolling brownouts and a state of emergency for several days.

The new generators will “give us a means to ensure the power consistently remains on,” Mackey said.

Keith Peterson, the finance minister, praised the announcement, but added Nunavut still needs more power plant upgrades.

The project will also create approximately 120 person-months of work for northern contractors.