{"id":284488,"date":"2025-11-15T10:16:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T10:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/284488\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T10:16:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T10:16:18","slug":"what-a-day-this-is-iqaluit-hydroelectric-plant-could-be-ready-3-years-sooner-than-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/284488\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What a day this is:\u2019 Iqaluit hydroelectric plant could be ready 3 years sooner than expected"},"content":{"rendered":"

A hydroelectricity plant to be built to provide power to Iqaluit will create \u201chundreds\u201d of jobs, cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost the city\u2019s economic resilience, says the federal minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The proposed Iqaluit hydroelectric project with a 50-metre-high dam and a powerhouse along the Kuugaluk River made the federal nation-building projects list on Thursday. (Photo courtesy of Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp.)<\/p>\n

Rebecca Alty spoke about the project in Iqaluit late Thursday afternoon, just hours after Prime Minister Mark Carney named<\/a> the Iqaluit Nukkiksautiit Hydro Project as one of six new \u201cnation-building\u201d projects the federal government wants to fast-track for approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an important milestone for sustainability, for our economy and for Arctic sovereignty, and a major step forward for reconciliation and Inuit economic leadership,\u201d Alty said, talking over the buzz of electrical feeders during a news conference inside Iqaluit\u2019s diesel-driven power plant.<\/p>\n

The project must still go through the territorial permitting process and the Nunavut Impact Review Board, which is required under the Nunavut Agreement.<\/p>\n

But with speedier federal permitting, construction could start in 2028 \u2014 two years sooner than initially estimated \u2014 said Heather Shilton, Nukkiksautiit\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would be looking at a three-year construction window, so 2030 would be the target for commissioning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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

Originally, proponents hoped to have the plant running by 2033.<\/p>\n

The $500-million hydroelectric power plant will be built along the Kuugaluk River, about 60 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit. It will include an approximately 50-metre-high dam and a powerhouse which could generate 15 megawatts of electricity for about 100 years.<\/p>\n

That would be enough to replace Iqaluit\u2019s diesel-burning electricity generator, which requires 15 million litres of imported diesel each year, said Harry Flaherty, president of Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corp., which inherited the project from Qulliq Energy Corp. in 2022.<\/p>\n

Nunavut dignitaries had many words to laud the development.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a day this is,\u201d said Premier P.J. Akeeagok. \u201cThis milestone truly reflects the dedication of many.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Jeremy Tunraluk said the project defines what \u201ctrue sovereignty means.\u201d And Olayuk Akesuk, president of Qikiqtani Inuit Association which owns Nukkiksautiit, called it a \u201cgreat day for our organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The federal government is expected to be the project\u2019s main funder and has already allocated $26 million for studies. The federal Major Projects Office staff will \u201csit down with the proponent and start discussing the financing,\u201d Alty said.<\/p>\n

Options might include funding from the $1-billion Arctic Infrastructure Fund that was introduced in the 2025 federal budget last week, or a loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank.<\/p>\n

Becoming one of the \u201cmajor projects\u201d named by Carney will also boost investor confidence in the hydroelectric plant, Akeeagok said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe backing and the support of the federal government will unlock new resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A hydroelectricity plant to be built to provide power to Iqaluit will create \u201chundreds\u201d of jobs, cut greenhouse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-284488","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\/284488","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=284488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}