Iqaluit power plant gets $10M upgrade

Iqaluit is getting a new generator to help stabilize the city’s power supply, but installing the new equipment has required some power outages over the past several weeks.

The new generator, which replaces one of six in the power plant, is an upgrade from one that was installed in 1992 and had a capacity of 3,300 kilowatts. The new generator’s capacity is 3,500 kilowatts.

The total cost of the project is $10 million, according to Bibi Bilodeau, spokesperson for Qulliq Energy Corporation.

“It’s an exciting project where we’re bringing online a new generator set at the Iqaluit power plant,” said John Main, Nunavut’s minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corporation, in an interview.

“It’s something to help us ensure greater reliability.”

The new generator is designed to reduce carbon dioxide, hydrocarbon, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions.

And it’s more fuel efficient than its predecessor, Main said.

Iqaluit’s generator replacement project started in 2023.

Three to four generators are running at Iqaluit’s plant at any given time. Half of these units are more than 30 years of age.

In September, Qulliq Energy Corp. filed an application to Main’s office to replace a second generator in Iqaluit that was installed in 1993 with a similar 3,000-kilowatt unit.

According to the application, if this generator is not replaced by 2026 or 2027, there will be a “higher risk of outages and failures in the community, impacting power supply reliability.”

The energy corporation is also trying to upgrade its diesel generation infrastructure across the territory, including in Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet.

“One of the root causes of the challenges we’re facing as a corporation is the age of our infrastructure,” said Main.

“We’re looking to our federal partners for more capital funding support so we can build more new power plants and protect ratepayers from power rate increases.”

Main said recent outages in the city have been caused by a combination of extreme weather and upgrading work at the plant. He said Qulliq Energy Corp. tries to “emphasize timely communication” around the reasons for power cuts.

“We understand that residents do want to understand the root issues or what’s going on in their community,” he said.

Installation, testing and inspection of Iqaluit’s new generator is expected to be completed by the end of November and it will be in operation shortly afterward, said Bilodeau, with the energy corp.

— With files from Jeff Pelletier