{"id":117998,"date":"2025-09-04T00:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T00:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/117998\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T00:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T00:19:09","slug":"new-106m-plant-to-power-nunaviks-smallest-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/117998\/","title":{"rendered":"New $106M plant to power Nunavik\u2019s smallest community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec eyes 2027 to replace older facility in community\u2019s core and double its electricity output <\/p>\n

A new power plant in Aupaluk, Nunavik\u2019s smallest community, will produce twice as much electricity as the community\u2019s existing plant and allow for future expansion to utilize other power sources, Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec says.<\/p>\n

Construction on the community\u2019s 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\u2019s core area, the new plant will replace the current facility that\u2019s located along the waterfront.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere comes a time where we need to replace stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 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 \u2026 a higher productivity rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like other northern power plants, this new one will be diesel-powered.<\/p>\n

However, a Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec investment document described it as a \u201chybrid\u201d plant that will also be capable of producing renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe design of the new power plant \u2014 and it\u2019s the case for the new design we use everywhere \u2014 is in a way that it will allow a future integration of renewables at a wider range,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, Aupaluk Mayor Maggie Akpahatak mentioned the power plant<\/a> as one of several projects making her community a \u201cbusy\u201d but \u201cexciting\u201d place as it goes through an infrastructure boom.<\/p>\n

Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec is bringing in 25 to 60 workers for the plant construction, making it a \u201csignificant\u201d work site that includes lodging, Perron said.<\/p>\n

Future power plant improvements are planned for other Nunavik communities, Perron said, including Quaqtaq, Kuujjuaraapik, Puvirnituq and Kangiqsujuaq.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

While there has been talk in the past of connecting Nunavik to Quebec\u2019s provincial power grid, Perron said Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec is focused on providing what works best locally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more practical approach and the one that can happen realistically is the one that we\u2019re doing right now. So we are aiming towards local solutions, decentralized solutions that will be, in the end, low or no-carbon ones,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec eyes 2027 to replace older facility in community\u2019s core and double its electricity output A new power…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-117998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}