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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Solar-generated power could save Northwestel upward of $2 million per year , according to a study released earlier this year.

This telecommunications tower is a more familiar sight than microwave stations Northwestel has stationed in remote locations across the North to transmit signals. There are 52 microwave stations in the NWT and 19 are only accessible by helicopter. - photo courtesy of Northwestel

The study, titled the Northwestel Remote Station Solar/Diesel Hybrid Feasibility study, looked at using a solar photovoltaic array, or solar farm, to supplement energy needs at remote microwave stations across the North.

Many stations are only accessible by helicopter and are not connected to the main power grid. The result is $2.5 million in fuel costs per year to provide power to these sites.

The study found that upwards of $20,000 per site per year, approximately 80 per cent of the current costs, could be saved if solar power was used to supplement the stations' energy requirements.

"(The results) are very promising so now we're actually implementing a pilot project," said Eric Clement.

"One year later we'll re-assess and see how successful it was and go from there."

The study states one station near Parsons Lake in the NWT cost Northwestel $80,000 to maintain in 2010.

Microwave stations are used to carry signals required for services like DSL internet, wireless, and internal communications across Northwestel's network.

They are positioned approximately 30 kilometres from each other and arranged in a zig-zagged line from one point of service to another. The zig-zag pattern eliminates interference, which becomes an issue if stations are situated in a straight line.

The pilot project, a 15 kilo-Watt array, will be set up in northern Yukon because Northwestel is partnering with departments at the Government of the Yukon and Yukon College for the project, as they did with the original study.

"It's pretty big and it can harness quite a bit of power so that really reduces your necessity for diesel fuel," Clement said.

The study refers to a similar but incomplete study of solar energy cost savings at a remote station, the Nahanni Range Station, in the NWT in 1997.

The solar-diesel hybrid system set up at the site produced savings of $10,000 per year and was expected to pay for itself within five years. However, the station was was dismantled after three years when it's services were no longer needed and the option of using solar was put on the shelf until technology improved and became less expensive to set up at other stations.

While the costs associated with bringing the technology to sites in the NWT or Nunavut isn't part of the study, the cost of setting up the project in any of the three territories would be substantive, regardless of the nearby infrastructure, said Clement.

"It does take a sizable investment to get it in wherever you bring it just because you have to account for all the cells themselves and the transport and the set costs. It is a large investment either way."

Clement said it's too early to say if or how customers would see the benefits of the cost savings.

"There are no rate changes proposed in the study," he said. "It's primarily a study associated with energy costs so it would be difficult to speculate about any rate changes but that said we are always looking to create more value."

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