IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2014 - 52

greenhouse-gas emissions regardless of the location; this
issue can become quite significant in light of the additional
fuel transportation and community heating requirements
faced by n&rcs.

N&RC Energy Projects

figure 1. An aerial view of Makkovik, an Inuit RC in
Labrador. A diesel generation facility operates throughout
the year to provide electricity to the community. (Photo
courtesy of Oliver Johnson.)

(a)

(b)

figure 2. Partial views of the Canadian Arctic city of
Iqaluit, in the territory of Nunavut. Community transportation access varies throughout the year based on meteorological conditions. (Photos courtesy of Cassia Johnson and
Hilary White.)
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ieee power & energy magazine

over the last few decades, there have been efforts from
various stakeholders to address some of the energy-related
issues in n&rcs mentioned above. federal and provincial
government agencies, utilities, nonprofit institutions, companies, universities, and communities have individually and in
collaboration tackled energy generation and demand challenges, including energy efficiency, natural resources assessment, and renewable energy (re) alternatives. A general
view of the state of the art of such efforts across canada's
provinces and territories is provided next.
efforts from different standpoints have been made to
increase the understanding of energy issues in the north of
canada as well as the conditions required for the deployment
of re technologies. natural resources canada (nrcan) has
created a catalog of the n&rcs' energy requirements and
supplies, which has been used as a baseline for the information presented in this article. the Pembina institute has also
conducted energy baseline assessments for several rcs, in
which the communities' electrical and heating requirements
are analyzed. in addition, tim weis and Jean-Paul Pinard
have done extensive research regarding wind measurement
and its potential in rcs. chris henderson of lumos energy
has expanded on inclusive project management frameworks;
he emphasizes the vital requirement of strong partnerships
among the involved stakeholders at all project stages. for
several years, the canadian wind energy Association (canweA) has lobbied for the adoption of a wind turbine (wt)
incentive for off-grid projects, which has yet to be implemented. in the yukon, John maissan has added to the concept of an re policy for n&rcs by analyzing the energy
efficiency potential, current re barriers, and lessons learned
from failed past incentive programs.
in recent years a number of pilot projects have been
undertaken to further understand and assess the challenges
of energy projects across n&rcs in canada.
✔ in British columbia, a hydro-hydrogen-storage project
was deployed in Bella coola, proving the deployment
capabilities of the technologies; the full potential seasonal savings of the project are now being quantified.
A solar photovoltaic (PV)-diesel system with 27 kw
of nominal power distributed across the community has been installed in nemiah Valley, and a 25%
reduction in fuel costs has been reported. recently, a
smart-grid system has been installed in hartley Bay
to let the community explore alternatives for energy
demand reduction.
✔ in newfoundland and labrador, the wind-diesel
system installed in the reasonably accessible ramea
island community is an example of a system with
july/august 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2014