Inuvik (Oct 29/04) - Despite saving the Town of Inuvik $40,000 on its power and heat bill last year, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation says its experiment with two combined heat and power microturbines at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex is "leaning towards failure."

The two 28-kilowatt systems, designed to generate electricity and heat by burning natural gas, were installed in the rec centre two years ago at a cost of $418,000. However, problems including a fire and broken fuel pump have turned what was intended to be a year-round power source into an on-again, off-again affair.

In his presentation to town council Monday evening, Power Corp. president Leon Courneya blamed some of the problems on the logistics of arranging timely service calls by Mariah, the company that manufactures the machines.

"We've gone to a new service contractor," said Courneya on his way out of council chambers. "So, we'll run them for another season and see."

At the rec centre Tuesday morning, technicians were busy doing modifications to make the Mariah microturbines more efficient.

"These (machines) are producing 1,200 kilowatts of power and 2,400 of heat energy, but they're burning too much fuel to do it," explained Power Corp. generation manager for Inuvik Terry Rafferty.

It's the microturbine's ability to recover heat that makes the machine so attractive in this region, abundant in natural gas. Theoretically, as long as there is access to a gas source, any facility employing the technology could exist off the electrical grid.

While there is word the Mackenzie Hotel Group is considering microturbines for its new hotel on Mackenzie Road, a company official would only say that all options for providing power and heat for the project were being explored and that no decision had been made yet.

Bill Crossman, manager of research and technology at the Aurora Research Institute, says he can understand the interest in the region for microturbines.

"Inuvik is fortunate to have its own gas field that most communities would really covet," he said, adding that certain applications of the technology were particularly suitable.

"The beauty of microturbines is that they are really good for greenhouses. If they are tuned properly, carbon dioxide is produced in the exhaust, which is a really attractive feature for greenhouse operation."

Interestingly, it is the Inuvik Community Greenhouse that is exploring the technology. Chair of the Inuvik Greenhouse Society Terry Halifax says the society has talked with Aurora College to explore the possibility of getting a microturbine to provide power for the college, while redirecting the heat into the greenhouse to expand its limited season.

"It's still really preliminary, but it looks pretty promising considering it's kind of pie in the sky," he said. "As the college owns the (greenhouse) building, it hinges on them."

Campus director Miki O'Kane says the idea is great, but for the time being it is just an idea.

"If it would work, it would be great, but we have to explore it further," she said. "We're always looking for better and cheaper ways of getting energy. When this campus was built I said that I'd like to see the latest in technological advancements."