QEC to replace three ancient power stations

Energy minister Lorne Kusugak speaks to the Baffin Mayors Forum in Iqaluit Feb. 15. Kusugak said the Qulliq Energy Corp. plans to build new power plants in Qikiqtarjuaq, Cape Dorset and Taloyoak by 2014. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

Qulliq Energy Corp. will replace three of its aging power plants by 2014, energy minister Lorne Kusugak told the Baffin Mayors Forum Feb. 15.

The new diesel-fired plants will go to Qikiqtarjuaq, Cape Dorset and Taloyoak, Kusugak said.

In an email, QEC spokeswoman Meaghan McRae said the new plants will be more efficient than their predecessors and “should reduce the per unit cost of production.”

“The new [generator] sets that will be coming in will be much more efficient, and thereby make better use of the diesel fuel that they are burning,” McRae said.

The plants will also be equipped to provide residual heat to the buildings themselves and may also be offered to local business and offices, McRae said.

The Cape Dorset plant will start out as exclusively a diesel plant but may designed to incorporate wind and hydrogen generation later.

The three communities have some of the oldest power plants in Nunavut:

• Qikiqtarjuaq’s was built in 1963 and QEC documents describe it as being in “poor condition.”

• Taloyoak’s plant was built in 1972, with upgrades in 1986 and 1993 and is described as an “eyesore” in “very poor” shape.

• Cape Dorset’s plant was built in 1964, making it one of the very oldest in Nunavut, with upgrades in 1973 and 1992. But it’s in poor shape and doesn’t generate enough power.

The new plants are covered under QEC’s five-year capital plan.

McRae couldn’t say what the cost of the projects would be, but at an infrastructure conference in Iqaluit last fall, QEC president Peter Mackey put the total value of the plan at $145 million.

QEC also has longer-term plans to replace or upgrade plants in Arctic Bay, Chesterfield Inlet, Gjoa Haven, Kugaaruk, and Arviat.

McRae said construction of the new plants must still be approved by the Utility Rates Review Council. An application was to go to the URRC “in the next few weeks.” An application for an expansion to Iqaluit’s 47-year old power plant is already before the regulator.

QEC is also seeking a 19.3 per cent rate increase to cover its growing capital costs for Nunavut’s aging fleet of power plants.

At the mayors forum, Iqaluit Mayor Madeleine Redfern blasted the rate request, questioning whether QEC is being run efficiently. She said the proposed rate increase would cost the capital $200,000 per year and be a “huge cost of living increase” for Iqalummiut.

Kusugak said he couldn’t directly discuss the rate application but said the URRC would factor in the city’s concerns.