Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (May 03/01) - The Midnight Sun Recreation Complex will be getting some cutting-edge energy and save the town $40,000 this year, thanks to a test project between the town, the power corporation and a Calgary-based energy company.

The NWT Power Corporation will own, operate and maintain the turbines, but the operation will save the town tens of thousands over the next year.

"We will see a reduction in the cost of heating the building which is good news for taxpayers," Clarkson said. "I think it will save us $40,000 to $50,000 every year."

The two natural gas-fired micro turbine units and heat recovery units will generate 77 per cent of the electricity required to operate the complex and 48 per cent of the facility's heat demand. Mayor Peter Clarkson said the town was the recovery and use of the residual heat generated by the turbines.

Richard Adamson, senior vice president of engineering with Mariah Energy Corp. in Calgary, Alta., says the turbines are a clean-burning, cost efficient way of providing heat and power.

The company will install the two systems that each generate 60 kilowatts of heat and 30 kilowatts of electric power per hour.

The turbines will only generate a portion of the electricity required, as the design is to provide cheaper and cleaner heat.

"The aim is to increase efficiency and to operate cleaner by minimizing emissions," Adamson said. "The system is sized based on heating loads."

About 26 percent of the gas energy is converted to power and about 54 per cent of the energy is converted to heat.

Adamson feels the design is a perfect marriage for many Arctic applications.

"We're really excited about it; this project really demonstrates a lot of foresight," he said. "It's very well-suited for the North."

"The spread of natural gas will really facilitate this kind of technology," he said, adding that the turbines also work with propane and are soon to test a new diesel-fired turbine.

"The Inuvik project is a really good match with the technology," he said.

Mariah has sold the units in the U.S., the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, a condominium development and are also working with the city of Medicine Hat on two new projects.

"The first one will go into a greenhouse providing heat and enhanced CO2 (carbon dioxide)," he said. "We'll heat the building and boost the CO2 concentration for the plants."

They will also be working on an energy system for that city's leisure centre.

Adamson says Mariah and northern partner Polar Energy in Norman Well also plan a project in Norman Wells and hope to be doing many more in other communities.