What you need to know about hydroelectricity and the Iqaluit hydro plant

Nunavut is 1 of 2 Canadian jurisdictions that doesn’t currently produce this type of energy

It’s official: Iqaluit’s $500-million hydroelectricity plant is a “major project.”

Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp.’s plan for a hydroelectricity plant near Iqaluit includes a dam and powerhouse and could replace diesel currently used to generate electricity. (Image courtesy of Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp.)

The Nunavut government and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. identified it on their March “nation-building” wish list for the federal government.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty announced the plant will be Nunavut’s first project to be referred to the Major Projects Office, which is set to speed up federal permitting.

That could see the plant operating by 2030.

That’s three years sooner than originally expected.

It will include a 50-metre-high dam and a powerhouse built along the Kuugaluk River, about 60 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit. It’s estimated the plant could generate 15 megawatts of electricity for about 100 years.

Now that the hydroelectricity plant is a step closer to eventually being completed, here’s what you need to know about the project and hydroelectricity itself.

What’s hydroelectricity?

It a renewable energy source that uses the force of moving or falling water to generate electricity.

Wouldn’t water freeze in winter? 

Yes, but it doesn’t freeze to the full depth of the river, allowing the water to flow — and energy to be generated — all year around, the Iqaluit project plan says.

Who is building the Iqaluit power plant? 

Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp. is a subsidiary of Qikiqtaaluk Corp., which is a business arm of Qikiqtani Inuit Association, the organization mandated to represent the rights of Qikiqtani Inuit.

The corporation inherited the project from Qulliq Energy Corp., the Nunavut government’s energy agency, in 2022.

Who will pay for it? 

The federal government is expected to pick up most of the estimated $500-million price tag. It has already invested $26 million.

Some funding options include the $1-billion Arctic Infrastructure Fund that was introduced in the 2025 federal budget last week, or a loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

What’s Iqaluit using now to generate electricity? 

Like the rest of Nunavut, Iqaluit relies on imported diesel fuel. The city requires 15 million litres of diesel fuel per year for the 10 to 11 megawatts of electricity currently required.

The rest of the territory needs roughly 40 million litres of diesel a year for electricity.

Do other provinces and territories use hydroelectricity? 

Yes. Nunavut is one of only two jurisdictions in Canada that doesn’t produce hydroelectricity along with Prince Edward Island, which generates 99 per cent of its own electricity through wind. But the majority of P.E.I.’s energy consumption (69 per cent) is imported from New Brunswick, which uses a mix of nuclear, diesel and hydroelectricity.

Overall, 60 per cent of Canada’s electricity is generated by hydro power with Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador typically generating over 85 per cent of their electricity from hydro, according to Canada Energy Regulator.

What about the other northern territories? 

In 2021, Yukon generated 72 per cent of its electricity though hydro and the Northwest Territories 36 per cent.

What will happen to Iqaluit’s diesel power plant once the city moves to hydroelectricity?

That would be up to Qulliq Energy Corp., says Harry Flaherty, CEO of Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp.

But the power plant could remain in place in case of emergency or to be available when the hydro plant is down for maintenance, according to the Nukkiksautiit project plan.

Hydroelectricity uses the power of moving water to generate electricity. (Illustration courtesy of Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp.)