Fort McPherson (Oct 25/04) - Nearby buildings will benefit from waste heat thanks to a new power plant nearing completion.

NWT Power Corporation's new Fort McPherson plant should soon be operational. Last January, a fire at the plant left the community without electricity for almost 14 hours.

"The total cost of the project is $6.5 million, the bulk of which should be paid for by the insurance," said Power Corp. spokesperson Greg Haist from Hay River.

The new plant includes a heat recovery system that will be able to pipe heat to the school, arena, hamlet office and other nearby buildings, Haist said.

"It gives us the opportunity to provide more heat to existing customers."

The new building also features structural changes from the old facility, which was built in the mid-1960s. As well, non-combustible materials are being used to reduce chances of another fire.

"One thing which changed is the seismic zone for Fort McPherson. It has low to moderate activity so the building had to be designed for different loads," he said.

"The old building was on untreated wooden piles while the new building will be on stronger steel piles."

One of the original generators has been inspected and refurbished in Calgary and is now ready for use once more.

Two other new 550 kilowatt generators are also ready for use.

Haist said the facility will require one operator and one part-time person to do regular maintenance checks.