Energy Options Working Group Releases Scoping Study on Manitoba – Nunavut Hydro Power Line
Press Releases
(September 24, 2015 — Rankin Inlet, NU)The Energy Options Working Group (EOWG), a working group established under the Hudson Bay Regional Roundtable, has released a scoping study conducted by BBA Inc. of Montreal. The report was commissioned by the Kivalliq Inuit Association, on behalf of the Hudson Bay Regional Roundtable, and explores the viability of a hydroelectric power transmission line that runs from Churchill, Manitoba to the Kivalliq region. The report was presented to the Roundtable during a semi-annual meeting being held in Rankin Inlet, September 23 and 24, 2015.
The report outlines the “great socioeconomic and environmental benefits for the population of the Kivalliq region and the development of the mineral industry in Nunavut.”
Key benefits for the five Kivalliq communities identified in the report — Arviat, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, Rankin Inlet, and Whale Cove — and any industry clients would include:
- Savings projected at $40M annually in diesel energy;
- A projected savings of between $60-$100M annually for the mining sector in diesel fuel;
- An estimated reduction of up to 380 thousand metric tons of GHG emissions;
- The creation of important infrastructure and a means for high-speed fibre optic communications; and
- A reduction in dependence on diesel fuel that would ensure energy prices do not fluctuate with the cost of oil and enable fuel subsidy payments to be reallocated to other important priorities such as health, education, and housing.
Next steps include funding requests to the governments of Nunavut, Manitoba and Canada in order to conduct a briefing and feasibility study. The report projects a completion date of 2025, should the feasibility study begin by early 2016.
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