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<\/p>\nInvestments in renewable energy will support Canada\u2019s Arctic sovereignty and help make Iqaluit a \u201cmodern Arctic capital,\u201d says the proponent of the planned Iqaluit hydroelectric plant.<\/p>\n
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Heather Shilton, executive director of Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp. which is leading the Iqaluit hydroelectricity project, says renewable energy will help make the city a \u201cmodern Arctic capital.\u201d (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have vision,\u201d said Heather Shilton, executive director of Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp., the company leading the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be using the fuel that we have in the territory to generate clean electricity and having ownership of those assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
The alternative is to continue using diesel fuel imported from the south to generate electricity, which harms the environment, produces few local jobs and makes Nunavut over-reliant on the southern market, Shilton said at the annual general meeting of Travel Nunavut at the Aqsarniit hotel in Iqaluit Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat represents foreign dependence and vulnerability in a strategically vital region,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t think that that\u2019s reflective of security or Arctic sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s biggest proposed project is to build a hydroelectric power plant along the Kuugaluk River, about 60 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit. It would replace all of the city\u2019s diesel-generated electricity, which requires burning about 15 million litres of diesel a year.<\/p>\n
The plant has been identified as one of the four<\/a> \u201cnation-building\u201d projects, according to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Nunavut government.<\/p>\n It would include an approximately 50-metre-high dam and a powerhouse and could be operational by 2033 generating 15 megawatts for about 100 years.<\/p>\n Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp. inherited the project from Qulliq Energy Corp. in 2022.<\/p>\n In 2017, its cost was estimated to be \u201capproaching $500 million,\u201d Johnny Mike, then-minister for QEC, told the legislative assembly.<\/p>\n The current price tag is yet to be estimated, Shilton said.<\/p>\n The federal government is expected to be the project\u2019s main funder and has already allocated $26 million for studies.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762543274_580_A-14595.93b.gif\" "\\"\\"")
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