Qulliq Energy Corp. awards power plant replacement contracts for 3 communities
Adco Power and Pilitak Enterprises to replace power plants in Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven and Igloolik
Qulliq Energy Corp. has awarded construction contracts for power plant replacement projects to Adco Power for Cambridge Bay and Pilitak Enterprises for Gjoa Haven and Igloolik to begin in the 2025-26 fiscal year. (File photo)
Two northern-based contractors will replace power plants in Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven and Igloolik.
Qulliq Energy Corporation made the announcement Tuesday in a news release.
Adco Power Ltd., an industrial, electrical and mechanical firm with a branch in Yellowknife, has been commissioned to construct a $50.2-million power plant in Cambridge Bay.
Previously, Adco built two power plants for Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. in 2019 and 2020, as well as a fuel tank farm in Cambridge Bay for Qillaq Innovations in 2015, according to its website.
Iqaluit-based Pilitak Enterprises Ltd. will replace power plants in Gjoa Haven and Igloolik, with expected costs of more than $36 million and $35.7 million, respectively.
In 2023, Pilitak won a nearly $46-million contract from Transport Canada to build a hangar at Iqaluit’s airport.
“These power plant replacements will utilize updated technology that will better position QEC to integrate renewable energy sources into our community grids in the future,” said Ernest Douglas, QEC’s president and CEO, in a news release Nov. 19.
The existing Cambridge Bay power plant, which is over 66 years old, will be replaced with more “fuel-efficient engines” and generate “much less noise and exhaust gasses” by using industrial scrubbers to remove pollutants from the exhaust stream and hospital-grade silencers, according to its major project permit application in 2021.
Similar to Cambridge Bay, the Gjoa Haven and Igloolik power plant replacements are expected to have a lifespan of more than 40 years.
Construction will begin in the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to the QEC news release.
The Arctic Energy Fund covers 75 per cent of the project’s eligible expenses, with the remaining 25 per cent paid by QEC customers, according to the permit applications.
The applications state that the project will not affect ratepayers until QEC’s general rate application, expected after the project is completed.
The application requires approval from the territorial minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corp.
Good to see some forward movement on this. Cam Bay has been struggling with power bumps that have caused lots of people electrical issues in their homes. Costly electrical issues at that but props to the QEC guys in town who always get things back up and going again, seemingly no matter the weather and having to deal with old equip.
What happened to Kugluktuk’s new Power Plant, already approved but nothing happening