CaDCR staff writer
Construction of a wind turbine at the Inuvik High Point Wind Project reached a construction milestone earlier this summer when the base, tower and turbine blades were installed, the Northwest Territories government announced. Work continues and the wind turbine is expected to be fully commissioned and generating power for the Inuvik grid in September.
Construction of the 3.5-megawatt wind turbine began in January 2022. It is expected to reduce diesel consumption in Inuvik by 30 percent and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation by 6,000 tonnes every year. Inuvik is the NWT’s largest diesel-powered community.
“Increasing the use of alternative and renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the territory are priorities for NTPC and the Government of the Northwest Territories and completing the Inuvik High Point Wind Project is part of addressing those priorities,” said Diane Archie, minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. “This has been a complex project that’s required a lot of hard work from everyone involved to get to this point.
“That hard work has paid off and by investing in a project that will reduce Inuvik’s reliance on imported fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, we are creating a better future for the NWT.”
The project is being constructed by NT Energy, a sister company of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC). NT Energy focuses on renewable and low carbon energy projects and business development opportunities for the North. The height of the turbine is 150 metres measured from the base to the tip of the vertical turbine blade with each turbine blade being approximately 67 metres long.
It will be funded with $30 million from the Government of Canada through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The Government of the Northwest Territories has committed $10 million to the project. In 2018, Inuvik Wind was the first project in the NWT approved under ICIP.
“The addition of a wind turbine to the generation mix in Inuvik is a big step forward for NTPC as it introduces a new renewable technology that could potentially be installed elsewhere. The inclusion of a battery energy storage system will allow additional renewable energy projects to proceed in our largest diesel community,” said Cory Strang, president and CEO, Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
