Final decision on energy source expected next spring

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, July 17, 2014

LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The Village of Fort Simpson and NT Energy are looking into making the switch from diesel to liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Andrew Stewart, manager of business development with NT Energy, and arms-length division of the NWT Power Corporation, said the change has the potential to provide LNG to the village at 10 to 15 per cent less than the cost of diesel.

But, he said the first step is determining whether the conversion is economically viable.

"The main thing is that we do need to prove the business case and so no decisions have been made to do LNG, it has to prove out and prove that it's a viable option for Fort Simpson before a construction decision would be made," he said.

Converting the village's power plant from diesel to LNG would require building a storage facility to store LNG. The gas must be kept at -162 C.

"We use basically large thermos trucks," said Stewart. "They're double walled tankers that would be used to haul product from British Columbia up the highway, and that product would then need to be unloaded at an offload station, which would need to be built in the community of Fort Simpson."

A vaporizer would heat the LNG up to an ambient gas, allowing it to be piped to the plant where it would be combusted and converted into electricity, Stewart said.

"The main benefit of super cooling LNG is fundamentally, you can get 600 times more storage into one unit of volume than you can with ambient gas," he said. "The big benefit here with LNG is you can transport much higher volumes of gas, but in order to do that, you need to maintain it at a very low temperature."

The system is already in place in Inuvik, but Stewart said there would be a variety of different factors to consider before installing a system in Fort Simpson.

"The case in Inuvik is a little bit different because we had existing gas generators at the (Northwest Territories Power Corp.) gas plant and all we needed was gas," he said. "In the case of Fort Simpson, we do have to establish there is a business case for this first of all."

In addition to potentially being cheaper, Stewart said LNG is a cleaner burning fuel than diesel.

"It also presents no soil or environmental contamination on the ground, so it does have benefits," he said.

Stewart added that while combusted LNG is cleaner, it can still be a greenhouse gas emitter if it leaks directly into the atmosphere.

Sean Whelly, Fort Simpson's mayor, said he supports the potential project.

"I don't really have anything but positive things to say about that," he said. "I think it's a cleaner fuel, it's a cheaper fuel and we could see an impact on our rates."

Stewart said requests for proposals will be issued in the coming months to help determine costs for conversion and construction.

"We're going to need someone to give us essentially what the design and the containment and storage would look like," he said. "We're going to get the same thing for the modular power plant component, so there will be several works associated with and site preparation required for wherever this facility is located."

NTPC purchased a piece of industrial land off of the island, which Stewart said could serve as the power plant's new location. If the project doesn't go through, the land could be used as the new home for the community's existing power plant.

"It is an option to be considered for the LNG facility, but no decision has been made. That decision will be made as part of this process," he said.

Stewart said the project's design phase could take six to eight months to complete. Meanwhile, suppliers will be contacted to determine which company could supply the LNG.

Stewart said a final decision could take place next spring.