SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Starting next year, the legislative assembly building will be heated by a wood pellet boiler as part of the territorial government's initiative to go green and reduce its dependency on fuel oil.

The Dene Community Centre is just one of several larger buildings heated by wood pellet boilers in the Yellowknife area. Here, Thomas Wunderlin, of Arctic Green Energy, stands beside the 20-tonne pellet tank the company built to heat the centre. - NNSL file photo

"Being the legislative assembly, they wanted to show a guiding light, as it were, by being seen to do something themselves, so they approached us ... asking if it was feasible," said Richard Cracknell, the GNWT's public works senior mechanical technical officer.

While the contract is still out for the $350,000 project, the new wood pellet system is set to be in place by March 2010.

Once in place, the boiler will be sized at 50 per cent of the total heat required for the building, providing heat for 90 per cent of the year, said Cracknell.

But even at less than 100 per cent, the boiler will save the GNWT big bucks.

"We are estimating we will displace 82,000 litres of fuel oil which, at $1.20 a litre gives us actual annual savings of $61,100," said Cracknell.

Meaning, the GNWT is expected to recoup costs of installing the new system in 4.8 years.

"The other big one is it will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 232 tonnes a year," added Cracknell.

This is not the first such project the GNWT has headed over the past several years.

The North Slave Correctional Facility has been running on a wood pellet boiler for three years; the GNWT was involved in setting up Sir John Franklin's wood pellet boiler; and it is currently working on installing a wood pellet boiler in Ndilo's new school and Ecole Saint Joseph for the fall.

"And we're working on several other ones as well," Cracknell added.

The GNWT is not the only government body to look at energy alternatives.

On the municipal level, the City of Yellowknife has also been working hard to meet green energy targets.

The Yellowknife Community Arena, Ruth Inch Memorial Pool and Yellowknife Curling Club are all heated by a wood pellet boiler, and, according to the city, the system saved the city $8,800 in December 2008 alone.

On the whole, energy used for heating represents 80 per cent of Yellowknife's total emissions and costs the community an estimated $65 million annually, according to the city.

So far, two Yellowknife contractors have expressed interested in setting up the wood pellet boiler system at the legislative assembly, said Cracknell.

The deadline for tenders to the GNWT was on Monday.