by Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Sep 17/97) - Arviat's power plant is in the process of getting an expensive facelift.

Bob Leonard and Associates, a local construction company has been doing the upgrade.

"The Arviat plant is undergoing about a million-dollar upgrade," said Bill Braden, director of Corporate Development and Public Relations for the NWT Power Corp.

"Right now the power house is very small and all that's in there are basically the engines, some switch gear and a very small kind of an office for our operator there, John Kuksuk."

The Power Corp. is bringing the facility up to standards. Changes will include an upgrade of the switch gear and controls that operate the engines and manage the power supply to the community.

It will include a proper customer service area washroom, the building's appearance will be improved and the yard will be cleaned up, levelled and fenced.

The two-year project will continue next year with the building of a noise abatement system as well as installing a residual heat system, a project recently launched in Fort MacPherson.

"The idea is to tap the heat off the diesel engines by building a very simple pipe system and then linking it to buildings that already have, say, hot water systems," Braden said.

The heat is metered and sold, creating a private sector opportunity in the community.

"What we want to do is look for hamlet or regional development corporations to partner with us and then we'll build a system. The new company would distribute the heat and sell it to the customer."

No companies located near the Power Corp. have signed on to the new system but discussions will continue until the system is up and running.

Braden said 30 communities in the NWT have the potential to take advantage of residual heat from power plants.

"Bigger buildings, schools would be ideal, hamlet offices, garages, water treatment plants, swimming pools are very, very good customers," he said.

If the NWT Power Corp. uses Fort MacPherson as a model they can guarantee a cost-saving of 10 per cent, based on today's current fuel prices.

"It's called the avoided cost of fuel. You're basically substituting what you would burn in your own building for what is already being burned at the Power Corporation," he said.

Other benefits of using residual heat is limiting the pollution and green house gases.

"In Fort MacPherson, for instance, since the system got started in February. We've avoided using about 900 barrels of fuel. Over the course of the a year that translates into about 150,000 kilograms of pollutants, sulphur and carbon emmissions."