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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's a big year for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Richard Edjericon, left, chair of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board; Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins; Michael Miltenberger, Minister Responsible for NTPC; Emanuel DaRosa, NTPC president and CEO; NWT Commissioner George Tuccaro; Brendan Bell, NTPC chairman of the board; and Willard Hagen, chair of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board celebrate the cutting of the ribbon at Bluefish Dam. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo

The company is in its 25th year and on Tuesday it celebrated the commissioning of the Bluefish Dam, a $37.4-million project almost three years in the making.

The dam began operations last November but due to its remote location NTPC waited for warmer weather to invite media, politicians, and representatives from the companies that aided in the construction process.

Almost 40 people were bussed from the Jackfish plant near Yellowknife to Prosperous Lake, where they were then taken across the lake in seven speedboats to the Bluefish dock. From there they walked 1.3 km to the Bluefish site.

Emanuel DaRosa, the power corp.’s CEO, spoke at the opening ceremonies beside the dam before the ribbon-cutting.

"I think this is a great example of the potential we have in the NWT," he said. "This day represents a starting point for our potential, and where we plan to go in the future."

Construction of the dam began in January 2011 to replace the old Bluefish dam that was built in the 1940s. The original cost was estimated at more than $18 million but, according to NTPC communications manager Bob Kelly, those estimates were done in a rush due to the deterioration of the old Bluefish site and the environmental hazards it could pose. When the replacement of the dam was announced the corporation said the old dam was in danger of collapsing. Additional costs were also added later in the project, such as $8.8 million to address concerns about the size of the spillway. Changes were made to ensure the spillway would be adequate of the next 100 years.

"It was still within the budget approved by the Public Utility Board, and was completed on time," said Kelly.

Hundreds of people were employed during the construction of the dam, according to DaRosa, but now that it's complete most of the operations can be done remotely. NTPC currently has a single operator on location at all times.

Bluefish generates almost 13 per cent of the hydro electricity NTPC produces for the territory, DaRosa said after the ceremony. The rest of it comes from the Snare hydro system, the Jackfish diesel plant and a small amount of gas.

The new dam produces 7.75 megawatts of energy for Yellowknife, Ndilo, Behchoko and Dettah. The Snare Lake hydro system also services those areas but it produces four times the energy, at 30 megawatts.

"Right now the (Bluefish) dam is holding back enough water to produce 10 megawatts, but the generators don't have the capacity for it," DaRosa said. "Eventually we want to get it up to 10 megawatts."

The oldest generator on the site would have to be replaced, he explained. At 10 megawatts the Bluefish would be capable of producing 20 per cent of the city’s energy needs.

He said the NWT has more than 10,000 megawatts of hydro capability, which is enough to power the entire province of Alberta, but the NTPC can't capture that today.

The project was also heavily Northern, according to DaRosa. More than 43 per cent of the purchases for construction of the dam went to Northern businesses, and 27 per cent of those businesses were aboriginal companies.

"We want to see that go forward where we enable NWT businesses to deliver services as much as possible," he said.

Commissioner George Tuccaro, who cut the ribbon to announce the dam’s official open, also said the project was an achievement for the North.

"I think Northerners should feel a sense of pride that we have what we need in the North, we just need to make good use of it," Tuccaro said. "It's meaningful for us to be able to use power that's generated by natural resources – it's beautiful."

Minister Micheal Miltenberger, Minister Responsible for the NTPC and past Minister of Finance in the last government, has been involved in the project from the beginning.

He said the commissioning of the dam was a chance for everyone to celebrate the investment he considers the project to be.

"It's another 100 years of Northern renewable energy being produced every year," he said. "It's a good news story for the environment, and a good news story for the Northern economy."

The new dam is located 400 metres downstream from the original hydro facility and is three times longer than its predecessor at 270 metres. Constructing the dam required 21,000 cubic metres of crushed rock material and about 1,400 cubic metres of cement. Also, the new spillway was created by excavating 75,000 cubic metres of rock.

– with files from Laura Busch

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