Hydro-Québec eyes 2027 to replace older facility in community’s core and double its electricity output
A new power plant in Aupaluk, Nunavik’s smallest community, will produce twice as much electricity as the community’s existing plant and allow for future expansion to utilize other power sources, Hydro-Québec says.
Construction on the community’s new $106-million plant began in 2024 and is expected to wrap up in 2027, said Patrick Perron, a project director with the provincial utility. Located about one kilometre east of Aupaluk’s core area, the new plant will replace the current facility that’s located along the waterfront.
The new plant will have a power output of 1.9 megawatts, Perron said, which is more than double the 850 kilowatts that the current plant produces.
“There comes a time where we need to replace stuff,” he said.
“When we design these power plants, we try to improve every time. We try to improve in terms of constructability, in terms of safety of the work that will need to be performed at site, and of course we want to achieve … a higher productivity rate.”
Like other northern power plants, this new one will be diesel-powered.
However, a Hydro-Québec investment document described it as a “hybrid” plant that will also be capable of producing renewable energy.
It will be equipped with solar panels, Perron said, and have the capacity to connect to future renewable sources such as a solar farm or wind farm.
“The design of the new power plant — and it’s the case for the new design we use everywhere — is in a way that it will allow a future integration of renewables at a wider range,” he said.
The new power plant is one of several construction projects going up in Aupaluk, population 200, this summer. The community is also getting a new water tank, a new gas tank and renovations of 19 homes in the community.
In a recent interview, Aupaluk Mayor Maggie Akpahatak mentioned the power plant as one of several projects making her community a “busy” but “exciting” place as it goes through an infrastructure boom.
Hydro-Québec is bringing in 25 to 60 workers for the plant construction, making it a “significant” work site that includes lodging, Perron said.
Future power plant improvements are planned for other Nunavik communities, Perron said, including Quaqtaq, Kuujjuaraapik, Puvirnituq and Kangiqsujuaq.
While there has been talk in the past of connecting Nunavik to Quebec’s provincial power grid, Perron said Hydro-Québec is focused on providing what works best locally.
“The more practical approach and the one that can happen realistically is the one that we’re doing right now. So we are aiming towards local solutions, decentralized solutions that will be, in the end, low or no-carbon ones,” he said.