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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
The NWT Power Corporation is looking at ways to improve the efficiency of its power systems, says president and CEO Emanuel DaRosa.

Part of the goal of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation's energy plan will look at ways to maximize efficiency of the Taltson hydro power station. - NNSL file photo

That could mean building transmission lines to link existing systems, such as the North and South Great Slave systems.

"Building a transmission line from say, Fort Smith and running it over to the vicinity of Yellowknife (would mean that) energy could flow back and forth between those two systems," DaRosa said.

DaRosa said the corporation is also investigating ways to connect with southern systems in British Columbia, Alberta or Saskatchewan.

"It's a long-term plan," he said. "How do we develop it so it looks like other power systems in the county?"

A linked system would also improve the efficiency of the territory's dams and allows the potential for more dams to be built, DaRosa said.

Currently, if a dam needs to be shut down for maintenance, diesel generators are used to produce the power lost while the dam is closed. If systems were linked, another dam could produce that power.

"As that load increases or decreases, that dam has to respond," DaRosa said. "Linking them together, we can potentially shut down a hydro dam for maintenance and still be able to carry the entire load. Overall, it's more efficient."

A linked system would also allow surplus power to be put into the continental power grid. This would also allow electricity to flow both ways, DaRosa stated in an e-mail to News/North.

"We would expect that the net flow would be for power to come North without any further generation being developed in the NWT. Although power will daily go in both directions depending on who could supply the most cost-effective power at the time," he stated.

Now, almost half the water at the Taltson dam is being diverted, instead of flowing through to create electricity.

"Today, the hydro dams have to match the load, so we divert a lot of water," he said.

"If we could run all the water through that dam, we would cut the cost of operating that dam in half."

He said these savings would be passed on to customers.

DaRosa said if the project was successful, the money saved by not having to use as much diesel would help fund the project. Funding from government and other sources could also be required.

DaRosa said at this point, the plan is only "visionary" and there is no estimated cost or timeframe.

An information session is scheduled to take place at The Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife from Nov. 20 to Nov. 23. DaRosa said the corporation is looking for feedback from stakeholders, including customers.

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