Rehabilitation and Repair

Taltson Hydro return to service from overhaul delayed to 2025

Taltson Hydro return to service from overhaul delayed to 2025

Northwest Territories Power Corporation in Canada said return to service of its Taltson Hydro plant after an overhaul will be delayed until January 2025 due to a unit alignment issue.

The Taltson Hydro plant was constructed in 1965 to support the Pine Point Mine. Since 1986, the facility has provided primary power to communities in the South Slave region.

The facility has been out of service since May 2023, when a significant overhaul of the 60-year-old hydro unit began. The overhaul was originally intended to be completed in November 2023, but a seven-week evacuation of the site due to wildfires extended the project into February 2024.

While recommissioning was under way earlier this year, contractors identified a significant alignment issue within the unit that had to be resolved before it could be safely and reliably returned to service. Engineers and hydro experts from NTPC and external sources have been working to resolve the issue over the past several months but have been unsuccessful.

As a result, the return to service of Taltson Hydro will be delayed until the unit can be disassembled to allow for the proper realignment of key components. It is expected that this work will take about five months to complete, with Taltson Hydro expected to return to service in January 2025.

South Slave hydro communities have been powered by local diesel generators while the Taltson hydro unit has been offline. Those generators will continue to provide primary power to Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Hay River, Enterprise and K’atl’odeeche First Nation until Taltson Hydro can be returned to service.

Before the site evacuation, the overhaul project was advancing on time and on budget, which was originally estimated to be $60 million to $70 million. The revised estimate to complete the overhaul is now about $97 million, which includes the cost of fuel used to power NTPC’s South Slave customers. Some of the costs will be included in NTPC’s next General Rate Application, but full cost recovery will be spread over time, NTPC said.

“The Taltson overhaul is one of the largest project’s in NTPC’s history. While we recognize that project delays have been frustrating for customers as well as everyone working on the project, we are committed to completing the Taltson overhaul so that South Slave communities can continue to be powered by clean hydro for the next 50 to 60 years,” said Cory Strang, president and chief executive officer of NTPC.

NTPC is a wholly owned subsidiary of NT Hydro, which is 100% owned by the Government of the Northwest Territories.