IQALUIT
With one of the world's highest tidal variations, Iqaluit is a prime location for harnessing and developing technology that could reduce the territory's reliance on diesel-generated energy.

This 3-D image of an Alstom tidal turbine shows the type of technology Kirt Ejesiak and his partners are hoping to bring to Frobisher Bay to reduce Iqaluit's reliance on diesel energy. - photo courtesy of GE-Alstom

Apex entrepreneur Kirt Ejesiak, with three Western Arctic partners, is hoping turbines installed on the sea floor can harness tidal energy to replace diesel as the capital's energy source.

"They have tried a tidal energy project in the Bay of Fundy," said Ejesiak, who is vice-president of marketing for Apqak Renewable Energy. "But the ones we've been watching are the ones in Europe."

It's early days, he said after asking Iqaluit city council for a letter of support to build a case for launching a feasibility study.

"The technology is proven, but there haven't been that many commercial projects because the tides aren't as high as the ones we have here," he said. "Our team thinks this project will work here, but we'd like to hire a company called Hatch to do our feasibility work, and that should answer most of the questions that I had when I was starting this."

Those questions include: How does it look, is it visible or below the surface, how big are the blades? A feasibility study would answer those questions.

Among the options are turbines by Marine Current Turbines (a Siemens company) and GE-Alstom. The most likely candidate would be below water, not visible from the surface, and would be able to harness the tides despite freezing surface temperatures.

"We think we could provide a clean energy source with our tides," he said. "The technology has evolved to a point where it's advanced with our tides. Those two have intersected, and the opportunity is there for us to put together a great project so we can actually have power coming out of this bay. We have to come up with something better than diesel."

If feasible, the project would be privately funded, with the proposal calling for Qulliq Energy Corporation to be a client instead of the driver of the project.

After Ejesiak's request, city council said it would provide a letter of support for the project.

"We can't do it without the support of local leaders and the support of the territorial and eventually federal government," he said. "This is a great project for us. We think it would be a great project for Nunavut."