Construction on the Inuvik Wind Project is underway in Highpoint, N.W.T., 12 kilometres east of Inuvik.
The Northwest Territories Government (GNWT), in partnership with the federal government and the Gwich’in Tribal Council, announced last week that construction began on an access road in January.
When the project is complete, it will include a 3.5-megawatt wind turbine, a battery storage system, the access road and a distribution line to connect it to Inuvik’s existing power lines.
Currently, Inuvik is powered by diesel and natural gas, using more fuel for electricity than any other community in the NWT. The territorial government reports that the project “will reduce diesel consumption in the NWT’s largest off-grid community by 30 percent—offsetting approximately three million litres of diesel per year.”
That reduction in fuel consumption will result in a big reduction in emissions, too—6,000 tonnes per year, according to the territorial government. The project will be delivered by NT Energy, a sister company of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) that develops low-carbon energy options in the territory.
Project Brings Environmental, Economic Benefits
“Not only will the project reduce the use of diesel to generate electricity,” says Diane Archie, Minister of Infrastructure, “it will assist the NWT in reaching its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target and will bring economic benefits to the Beaufort-Delta region.”
It’s hoped the project will reduce the costs of electricity in the community and create local jobs, in addition to the climate benefits. The contractors selected for the road’s construction, Northland Builders, are a Gwich’in company. GNWT says other tender packages have been issued.
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Ken Kyikavichik, Grand Chief, Gwich’in Tribal Council, states:
“The reduction in greenhouse gases and associated carbon footprint from fossil fuel power generation in the Beaufort-Delta can only assist in combatting global climate change—the effects of which we face on a daily basis.”
Research by Environment and Natural Resources suggests that Inuvik has experienced “significant winter warming” due to climate change, “with a 5.2°C increase since 1958.”
The GNWT notes that more turbines could be installed on the site in future. It also states that wind motoring programs “have been carried out in 15 NWT communities,” leading to the hope that more decarbonization projects could soon be in the works. Completion of this project is expected in winter 2023.
Image credit: Max LaRochelle
