Jaynes Inlet top choice for Iqaluit hydro plant

Jaynes Inlet, where a powerful river rushes down to meet Frobisher Bay, is the Qulliq Energy Corp.’s leading choice for Iqaluit’s first hydro-electric project.

A dam built about 10 kilometres upstream from Jaynes Inlet, located southwest of Iqaluit on the other side of Frobisher Bay, would produce enough power to meet most of the city’s electrical power needs.

The project’s construction is expected to generate about 75 jobs, millions of dollars in spin-offs, and lead to the construction of a deepwater port near Anchorage Island.

The river that empties into Jaynes Inlet could produce enough electricity for Iqaluit if surrounding lakes are linked up and dammed to create a reservoir.

Water flowing from this reservoir would turn giant turbines to produce electricity, carried by transmission lines 84 km overland to Iqaluit.

Another smaller dike could harness even more energy from the river during warmer months.

Unlike the huge hydro-electric projects of northern Quebec, this dam at Jaynes Inlet, known as Qikiqgijaarvik in Inuktitut, won’t change the course of the river or alter the bay’s salinity, although it may have an impact on ice formation, fish, beluga and the traditional use of the land.

Anne Crawford, the president of the QEC, said any hydroelectric project comes at a cost.

But Crawford said Jaynes Inlet appears to be the most promising of five sites near Iqaluit that the power corporation studied this past summer.

After ranking these sites, the power corporation now plans to do more studies in 2007 for a possible dam at Jaynes Inlet.

They will also do studies on much smaller “run-of-river” projects, which don’t require large dams, at Jaynes Inlet, Anna Maria Port (Qairuliktuq Qingua) and Armshow River.

The QEC hopes the federal government will fund a second feasibility study on a possible dam at Cantley Bay, called Kangalait in Inuktitut.

In 2006, the corporation’s consultants, Knight Piésold, along with hunters and trappers associations in Pangnirtung, Iqaluit and Kimmirut, looked at five sites. They put together information about traditional knowledge, current land use and archeology.

The traditional knowledge portion of this study involved interviews with 20 elders and hunters from Iqaluit, 10 from Pangnirtung and five from Kimmirut.

A series of fish studies looked at each site’s fish stocks, what kinds of fishing is carried out at each site and which fish habitats could possibly be altered or destroyed by hydro-electric development. To gauge the water flow of rivers, stream monitoring devices were installed.

Information from the QEC says assessments also touched on the transmission distances from each site to Iqaluit, possible road routes and docking locations, capital and energy production costs and environmental issues.

Jaynes Inlet can produce five megawatts of power. That’s only one quarter of the power that could be generated at Cantley Bay, but that site would require a costly road from Iqaluit because it’s not accessible by barge.

“The best site may not be economically strongest,” Crawford said.

In 2007, QEC will work on permitting, financing and engineering and environmental studies.

“There will be a lot more activity,” said Jamie Flaherty, the vice-president of QEC. “The work we did last year is small compared to what we’ll do this year.”

This work includes drilling and test pits at the dam site, a site survey and financial analyses.

The Jaynes Inlet project is a minimum of 10 years away from completion, if work stays on schedule. Construction may start in 2010, and this could stretch out over 15 years if at the same time smaller projects are also built.

About 20 per cent of the project’s estimated $150-200 million capital cost would be spent locally.

The Government of Nunavut won’t pay for the project with its own money because its steep cost would exceed the GN’s debt-cap. The GN is allowed to incur only $200 million worth of debt and right now, its long-term debt stands at about $150 million.

So the power corporation is already looking for a private partner for the project, which Crawford said is a “good long-term investment.”

A power plant at Jaynes Inlet will produce less power than Greenland’s 36 megawatt power plant, which opened in Kangerluarsunnguaq, 50 kilometres south of Nuuk, in October 1993. This plant is operated by Greenland Energy Supply/Nukissiorfiit and supplies all of Nuuk’s heat and power.

That project cost $220 million when it was built. This capital investment will be recouped over time, and even more quickly than anticipated due to rising oil prices.

Iqaluit accounts for about one-third of Nunavut’s entire fuel consumption of 39 million litres a year. Iqaluit’s consumption is now equal to about 275 barrels a day. But in 10 years, it will take more than 500 barrels a day to meet Iqaluit’s power needs.

For the time being, all of Jaynes Inlet’s production will go towards Iqaluit’s needs. But if more hydroelectric projects are built near Iqaluit, these could be connected to either Pangnirtung or Kimmirut.

Qulliq plans to study the hydro-electric potential of other Nunavut communities in the future.

Public consultations on Qulliq’s hydro-electric projects are scheduled for the evenings of March 22 and 23 in Iqaluit at the Anglican Parish Hall.