Nunavut utility continues push to replace aging diesel generators

<p><br/></p><p>With the recent decommissioning of Grise Fiord’s aging diesel plant, Qulliq Energy Corp. continues to chip away at replacing community power plants that have surpassed their life expectancy.</p><p><br/></p><p>A 2015 report found that 14 power plants in the territory fit that description.</p><p><br/></p><p>Since then, Qikiqtarjuaq and Taloyoak got new plants in 2016, followed by Pangnirtung in 2017 and Kinngait in 2018.</p><p><br/></p><p>The most recent recipient is Grise Fiord, which received a new power plant in 2019.</p><p><br/></p><p>QEC’s acting president and CEO, Bill Nippard, said the new plant has added reliability to the community’s power supply.</p><p><br/></p><p>“QEC’s local power plant operators have become more familiar with the automated systems _ which were previously only manually operated,” he said. “Outages in the community are also less frequent and shorter in duration compared to the previous power plant.”</p><p><br/></p><p>Grise Fiord residents might notice the new plant’s 58-year-old predecessor is being dismantled this summer.</p><p><br/></p><p>The energy corporation began the decommissioning project, which will cost around $300,000, not including shipping fees, last year.</p><p><br/></p><p>“This work involves removing the power plant fuel system, emptying the components of the building, and dismantling the structure,” said Nippard.</p><p><br/></p><p>The corporation is donating its three 90,000-litre tanks to the territory’s petroleum division and sending scrap parts to the hamlet’s landfill and generators to be discarded down south.</p><p><br/></p><p>For the next stretch of decommissioning, which began last week and will end on Aug. 20, QEC is taking off the plant’s outer shell and removing the structural bracing.</p><p><br/></p><p>QEC is asking people in Grise Fiord to exercise caution in the area where this work is being done.</p><p><br/></p><p>Kugluktuk and Cambridge Bay also have power plants that date back to the 1960s and have surpassed their life expectancy. Qulliq Energy Corp. is working on replacing those as well.</p><p><br/></p><p>Permit applications for new power plants in Cambridge Bay, Igloolik and Gjoa Haven are in front of Jeannie Ehaloak, the minister responsible for Qulliq Energy Corp., Nippard said.</p><p><br/></p><p>In Kugluktuk’s case, Nippard said the corporation is currently drawing up designs for a power plant that has battery storage facilities and can harness solar power, which would be a first for Nunavut, as all of the territory’s 25 power plants run on diesel.</p><p><br/></p>