Ottawa to fund feasibility study for Manitoba Hydro line to Nunavut
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2019 (2417 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government is signalling its support for a Manitoba Hydro transmission line to Nunavut, adding momentum to a project that’s been floated for decades.
On Monday, Ottawa put up $1.6 million to study the feasibility of a running a 1,200-kilometre transmission line north from Churchill, along with a fibre-optic cable.
Proponents argue the hydro link would wean part of the territory off its current reliance on shipped-in diesel, to a much cheaper energy source that better is for the environment. A fibre-optic cable would take households with dial-up speeds to broadband standard.
A 2015 engineering study pegged the cost of such a project at $904 million, serving five hamlets that current count 8,400 residents. The assessment found the project would eventually pay for itself by reducing energy costs.
Monday’s announced funding will be used to gather data, assess local feedback and permits, and then come up with a precise route and cost estimate. It also signals Ottawa is on-board with the idea, which has largely proceeded without federal involvement.
The Kivalliq Inuit Association, which represents the inhabitants of western Nunavut, has argued the project would also boost mining revenues. The KIA and the American energy firm Anbaric are spending a combined $800,000 on Monday’s announced research.
The project would connect five of the seven communities in western Nunavut as well as Agnico Eagle Mines; its construction would likely span three years.
Meanwhile, Manitoba Hydro’s planned transmission line to Minnesota remains in the works. This month, Natural Resources Canada extended the project’s Charter-rights consultations with Indigenous people by three months.
Hydro says its project, known as the Dorsey International Power Line, is still slated to come into service in June 2020, pending approvals.
dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca