Inuvik’s windy days will soon be powering homes, as the Inuvik High Point Wind Project is nearing completion and is expected to start feeding into the grid in September.
An official ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the site on July 31.
“Construction of this project started in January of 2022,” said deputy premier Diane Archie. “We look forward to working with the government of Canada on many more energy projects in the future. Despite all the moving parts and challenges, we got the job done.”
Once the wind turbine begins operation, it will run 24 hours a day, reducing the region’s diesel consumption by 25 per cent, or the equivalent of roughly 3 million litres.
NWT Power Corporation (NTPC) CEO Cory Strang said that amounts to 17 per cent of the diesel imported into the territory each year by truck. In total, NTPC brings 17 million litres of diesel to the NWT annually.
The 3.5 megawatt wind project will offset 6,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually. Inuvik is the largest diesel powered community in the NWT.
The initiative will provide 30 per cent of Inuvik’s energy needs. Archie said the turbine may even be able to cover all of Inuvik’s electrical needs in the summer.
Standing 150 metres, the turbine is among the tallest structures in the Northwest Territories. Included in it is a battery storage system and microgrid controller, which Strang said should reduce power outages in the summer.
“The planning and construction for the project has not been easy,” he said. “NTPC has been transitioning away from diesel generation in Inuvik for the past several years. The Inuvik wind project is a significant move for NTPC, its Indigenous partners, its customers and employees.
“The addition of the battery storage system and the microgrid controller should help balance (the power grid) so if there’s a loss of wind generation, the batteries will kick in to alleviate that and the controller can start up one of the natural gas generators or diesel,” said Strang. “So the project should reduce the frequency of outages.”