Alternative energies sought
Territorial government deserts Taltson grid expansion plan, pulls researchers together for second energy planning session in two years
Randi Beers
Northern News Services
Published Friday, October 31, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After the territorial government desertion of the Taltson dam expansion project, renewable energy is set to be a hot topic at an energy conference next week in Yellowknife and Dettah.
The territorial government is hosting an energy charrette, or intense planning and design session, next Monday and Tuesday in Yellowknife and Dettah after a keystone of its energy action plan, expansion of the Taltson dam, came back almost double the expected cost in a recent feasibility study. - photo courtesy of Deze Energy Corporation |
The event marks the second time the government has brought thinkers together to form an energy action plan in two years.
The Taltson dam expansion project was a pillar of the former energy action plan, which Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger announced in late September his department would be forced to abandon because a feasibility study came back with a price of $1.2 billion, a number almost double what the government had anticipated.
This realization, coupled with the government's Sept. 26 announcement it would kick in $20 million to Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) in order to avoid a 13 per cent rate hike, is why the government is bringing energy groups back to the drawing board.
"(NTPC) recognizes the current way of operating is no longer sustainable," said Miltenberger in an Oct. 20 minister's statement.
"Rates have reached their limit of affordability. What occurred this past summer, while an environmental anomaly, has been a catalyst that has initiated serious discussion on potentially game-changing direction and focus."
He then indicated the government is willing to consider any sustainable option that "would not increase the cost of power to the customer."
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is bringing in researchers with experience in innovative energy projects to the discussion, such as the Carlton University research team tasked with designing the self-sustaining Canadian High Arctic Research Station in Cambridge Bay.
For the research station, the team has developed a "utility in a box" energy solution, which provides solid waste treatment, sewage treatment, electricity, heat and grid stability for an estimated 17 cents per kilowatt hour.
Each of these individual multi-purpose energy generators have the capacity to provide electricity to approximately 150 people.
Biomass also promises to be a hot topic, as the government has invited Axel Lambion, managing director of Lambion Energy Solutions, a German biomass energy company that has completed over 3,400 hundred biomass projects across the world.
Louis Azzolini, executive director of the Arctic Energy Alliance, will also be presenting at the event.
In an interview with Yellowknifer, he stressed energy conservation and efficiency as the most effective way for the territory to reduce energy costs, especially in the short term.
"Once you start dealing with your energy consumption and get a handle on that, the next progression, if you want to call it that, is asking what other ways we can (generate power,)" he said. "The analogy I would give is if your car ain't running, well, do you go out and change the engine or do you put air in the tires? Once you've checked the tires you can say, 'OK, maybe we need a new car."
He pointed to simple things homeowners can do, such as checking the pumps on home heating systems. Some heating systems have dual pumps and leaving just one pump on for the entire year can tack as much as $5,000 to heating bills, he explained.
Craig Scott, executive director of Ecology North, also pointed to the importance of energy conservation in creating an energy plan.
His organization will also participate in the discussion and he plans to renew his call for the territorial government to adopt a carbon tax.
"It has made a huge difference in British Columbia," he said.
"And we would like to encourage the (NWT) to think about using it."
Scott imagines a carbon tax would add a few cents to gas at the pump, and those extra pennies would be funneled into a government account that would fund other energy efficient initiatives.
The discussion will be held over two days and the government is hosting a public forum Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Explorer Hotel and an invitation-only discussion session Nov. 4 at the Chief Drygeese Centre in Dettah.
