IceGrid team members (from left) Brandon Copeland, Dr. Brett Favaro and Dave Lane celebrate their CanInfra win with a selfie. - Submitted

There has been no shortage of talk about the expected power rates in this province in the years to come, and while they’ll be exorbitantly high compared to what Newfoundlanders and Labradorians currently pay, they’ll still pale in comparison to those in Nunavut.

As the only place in Canada that depends entirely on diesel-generated electricity to power their homes and businesses, rates can be as much as 10 times the Canadian average.

The financial burden goes beyond what the residents of the nation’s most northern territory are shouldering and extends to Canadian taxpayers who are subsidizing power generation to the tune of $36.5 million annually.

A trio of like-minded individuals from St. John’s — Marine Institute research scientist Dr. Brett Favaro, business analyst and St. John’s city councillor Dave Lane and entrepreneur Brandon Copeland — came up with a potentially game-changing solution to this untenable situation and earlier this week took home top spot at the CanInfra Challenge, a pitch competition aimed at seeking transformational ideas to solve Canada’s infrastructure problems and revolutionize the country.

“While climate change, I believe, is a moral imperative and there’s ecological reasons and environmental reasons, the foundation of our pitch was people and cost,” Favaro explains.

“This isn’t altruism. If we do this, if we invest in this as a country, people will save money, taxpayers will save money.”

Their project — dubbed IceGrid — proposes replacing the diesel generating plants in Nunavut, starting in the capital of Iqaluit, with microgrids fueled exclusively by reliable, sustainable and renewable wind power that can be stored in an array of warehoused batteries connected to the existing electricity distribution network.

The resulting reduction in greenhouse gas emissions obviously makes for a strong environmental case, but the financial case makes the project even more compelling.

Based on their calculations and “really conservative estimates,” Favaro and company suggest the upfront cost of about $233 million for the turbines and batteries could be repaid in eight years thanks to operating and maintenance costs of roughly $2.3 million annually, compared to the $30.4 million it costs to keep the diesel generators going now.

That figure, Favaro says, could climb to over $33 million once federally mandated carbon pricing comes into effect in 2019.

Favaro points to the Site C hydroelectric dam underway in British Columbia, a project with a payback period of 71 years, and says even if their estimates are off by a factor of five, IceGrid still makes more sense.

“We have deemed as a society that it is acceptable to fund a mega-project that takes 71 years to pay for itself,” he said.
“If that is the case, then presumably it should also be the case that an eight-year payback is an acceptable amount or even more than that, particularly given that there’s no way to forecast it where it doesn’t pay for itself after a while.

“Every version of this is cheaper than diesel.”

Whereas maintaining the current diesel model would cost $662 million over 20 years (under a carbon pricing model), IceGrid’s total cost would be $284 million — a saving of $378 million.

Savings like those, they suggest, will create more sustainable local economies, leading to improved growth and a greater quality of life, which in turn will bring more families, businesses and amenities to the area.

“I think that IceGrid is not just a technological model, I think it’s a model about how to think about projects, because it’s very, very community focused,” Favaro says.

And it needn’t be strictly a solution for remote northern communities. The IceGrid team says the project is scalable to a municipality of any size, even those on the grid as it helps utility companies balance their load requirements.
“If we can do it in Iqaluit, in the north, in a cold, challenging climate, we can do it anywhere and I think that’s part of what enticed us,” Favaro says.
“This is like the moon landing of clean energy. This would be such a powerful symbol and would refute forever people trying to say we can’t do this, we can’t afford it.”
The CanInfra win comes with a $50,000 prize, a good chunk of which the IceGrid trio will donate to a charity. The bigger prize, from their perspective, is event organizer Boston Consulting Group’s commitment to help the communities interested in adopting the winning platform connect with government and funding avenues.
“This part had to be about us because it’s a pitch competition and we had to pitch. Now this platform is there,” Favaro said.
“The lowest level of this, the sort of simplest version, is that the communities that are applying for funding to do renewables feel empowered to go big and can cite our win as an example.”

Nunavut's power plants are in desperate need of replacement, with 14 of 25 having reached the end of their life expectancies, according to a Senate report. (Vincent Desrosiers/CBC)

A Senate standing committee has released a new report looking at energy systems in Canada's three territories — one that's shedding light on the dire state of Nunavut's power generators.

The nine-member Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources, which included Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson and N.W.T. Senator Nick Sibbeston, released a 64-page document based on more than a year of research across the North.

The committee found that 14 of Nunavut's 25 power generators are at the end of their useful life. Two more generators, in Chesterfield Inlet and Gjoa Haven, are within 3 years of the end of their plant life expectancy.

"In most communities, diesel generation is the only viable option for reliable base load power and will likely continue to be so for some time," read the report. "That being said, having such a large fleet of diesel facilities operating past their life expectancy requires [Qulliq Energy Corporation] to commit large portions of capital spending to replacing components and making upgrades to extend operating parameters.

"Acquiring parts for these plants is a constant challenge. An aging facility increases the risk of power outages and, if a winter outage occurs, extensive damage can result due to freezing." 

Last fall, then Qulliq Energy Corporation president Peter Ma said replacing Nunavut's aging power plants would likely cost about $15 million each — three times more than what was originally budgeted.

Audits for Qulliq Energy Corporation are currently under RCMP investigation for criminal wrongdoing.

The committee recommended that the federal government "should contribute, in some way, to help advance territorial energy projects.

"This could take the form of a federal infrastructure funding program for qualified territorial energy projects that promote cleaner air and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Nunavut set to replace two more 'extremely old' power plants by 2019

It will likely take more than $250 million to replace more than a dozen power plants beyond life expectancy

Elyse Skura · CBC News · Posted: Dec 15, 2016 12:48 PM CT | Last Updated: December 15, 2016

A map in the recently issued request for proposals to design and build a power plant in Cape Dorset shows the locations of both the existing and planned power plants. (Qulliq Energy Corporation)

The Qulliq Energy Corporation says Cape Dorset and Grise Fiord will have new diesel power plants by 2019, but replacing every plant beyond its life expectancy will take many years and more than $250 million.

A 2015 Senate report expressed an urgent need to replace more than a dozen power plants operating beyond "the end of their useful lives." 

Bruno Pereira, the CEO and president of the Qulliq Energy Corporation, says Cape Dorset and Grise Fiord will see new power plants by 2019. (Elyse Skura/CBC)

The committee wrote that it was "surprised" by the number and argued that the increased risk of power outages "posing a risk to public safety and resulting in costly repairs." 

Bruno Pereira, who became Quilliq's CEO earlier this year, says upgrading its infrastructure is still the utility's top priority.

"Our philosophy is this: we want to make sure our customers have reliable power," he said. "The first thing we need to do is rebuild the diesel plants."

53-year-old plant set to be replaced

Since the Senate report was released, QEC has opened two new power plants — in Taloyoak and Qikiqtarjuaq — and a facility to replace one which caught fire in Pangnirtung is set to be finished by March 2017. 

Next on the list to be built are new diesel power plants for Cape Dorset and Grise Fiord. 

Pereira says both have "seen better days," but the plant in Nunavut's northernmost community is "extremely old."

It was built in 1963, making it the oldest plant, although the majority of the territory's 25 communities still use power plants built prior to 1980. 

The Qulliq Energy Corporation needs to space out the replacement of power plants, because of financial and staff limitations. (John Van Dusen/CBC)

With no roads between communities and air travel often stymied by unpredictable weather, Pereira says getting to remote hamlets during emergencies can be a real challenge. 

"If the weather doesn't accommodate us, reaching Grise Fiord can be a problem," he said. "It's one of the plants where we want to make sure we have the latest and greatest to be able to service the community."

High costs for new power plants

In 2015, the fire at Pangnirtung's diesel facility prompted a month-long state of emergency in the hamlet. Specialized aircraft were tasked with bringing four generators to the community.

The Senate report says the entire operation — not including the price tag for the generators — cost $3 million.

But replacement of aging plants is also a significant expenditure, which Pereira says is a main reason why projects need to be spaced out. 

A fire at the power plant in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, in 2015 knocked out electricity service in the community. (submitted by David Kilabuk)

"We have to fund the projects and we need to make sure that we have resources dedicated to these projects."

According to QEC's most recent corporate plan, maintaining the integrity of existing infrastructure will mean a new plant should be built or a existing facility should get an overhaul every two to three years. 

In the past, the utility has gotten into trouble for underestimating the cost of projects. 

Pereira says the corporation won't have an exact budget for the two new projects until contracts are awarded, but he estimates the Cape Dorset plant will cost $20 to $25 million and the Grise Fiord will cost less. 

With building costs expected to rise, Pereira says it's more difficult to put a dollar amount on replacing every plant, but he estimates the price at more than $250 million.

A map in the recently issued request for proposals to design and build a power plant in Cape Dorset shows the locations of both the existing and planned power plants. (Qulliq Energy Corporation)

September 28, 2017

(OTTAWA) – The Green Party of Canada (GPC) released the following statement regarding the planned closure to Canada’s high Arctic research station, The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL):

“The last time this vital research station on Ellesmere Island was threatened with closure was in 2012, during the infamous anti-science Harper years, which also featured the muzzling of scientists on the government payroll,” said Richard Zurawski, GPC Climate Change Critic. 

“I am not surprised PEARL is on the chopping block again. The Liberals say a lot of nice things – mouthing all the proper words at the right time, projecting a pro-science and research campaign – while simultaneously choking off funding and giving vested fossil fuel interests a free hand,” Mr. Zurawksi said.

Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands), said: “The Arctic recorded its eighth lowest summer ice extent, along with the lowest winter extent this year, and ocean levels are rising at their fastest levels on record, which threatens low-lying coastal cities.

“Why would a government, supposedly so committed to science, climate change and international collaboration, allow this research station to be closed? I wish I had an answer. Without research, we will not discover answers. And without answers, we cannot take educated, informed action on climate change,” Ms. May said.