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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - An area around Giant Mine is being eyed as a possible site for a wind farm.

Det'on Cho Earth Energy, Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., the territorial government and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) announced Friday they have partnered to conduct a "green energy study" to look at the potential of harnessing wind energy for powering the Giant Mine Reclamation Project and Yellowknife.

A weather monitoring tower, donated by Diavik Diamond Mine, has already been installed near Giant Mine, which will collect information on wind speeds at various heights over the next few years. If the results look good, they will look at building a wind farm to power the Giant Mine clean up, and possibly Yellowknife as well.

"We are optimistic that the data collected will indicate that renewable energy from the wind can supplement the current energy requirements of Yellowknife," said Ric Bolivar, director of Det'on Cho Earth Energy in a press release.

If the results of the feasibility study promising and the project passes environmental review, the area could see from seven to 16 turbines, producing 12 to 14 megawatts of power per hour, reaching 50 metres into the sky. That much energy would be enough to cover half of Yellowknife's power needs, said Bolivar, citing statistics that show Yellowknife power usage peaks at around 25 megawatts per hour.

Bob McLeod, minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board, said he welcomes the idea of a wind farm.

"In the NWT we talk about quite a bit (about) the need to develop alternative renewable energy, because a lot of our communities rely on fossil fuels," said McLeod. "Partnerships like this ... is the way to go, to provide a greener future for the Northwest Territories."

He said it's too early now to set a timeline for when the first turbine may go up, saying the project is in the preliminary stages, and there are still environmental assessments to go through. However, he does think it is a good site.

"The higher you go, the faster the wind goes, so I think this is a very good site," said McLeod.

The cost of getting the weather twoer from its previous home at Diavik's Lac de Gras site was covered by $450,000 in contributions by the project partners.

Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley had the chance to tour the area on Friday, and said he supports the project.

"I think given what we're faced with, we know what climate change is doing to the world ... The writing is clear, so we need to replace fossil fuels," said Bromley. "This is a good start I think."

Glen Abernethy, MLA for Great Slave, also had a chance to see the tower and supports the project.

"This is going to give Det'on Cho (Earth Energy) the real information as to whether or not the wind possibilities exist, and from there, whether or not they will be able to build a business plan or not," said Abernethy.

"I see it as being an incredibly proactive undertaking. I think it's fantastic."

The weather monitoring tower was originally used by Diavik's to collect weather information.

"At Diavik, we continue to seek ways to support local infrastructure initiatives. It is very gratifying to see our weather data infrastructure applied to a local initiative," said Diavik's vice-president of strategic development, Alasdair Martin.

The turbines, if built, will be located on the same site as the weather monitoring tower - overlooking the Giant Mine site from the west - and will not be visible from most locations along the Ingraham Trail in Yellowknife.

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