Rehabilitation and Repair

NTPC to rehabilitate 18 MW Taltson small hydro project

The Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) announced that it will begin the overhaul of the 18 MW Taltson Hydroelectric Facility in April 2023.

The Taltson Hydroelectric Facility on the Taltson River about 64 km north of Fort Smith was built in 1965 to supply electricity to the Pine Point Mine. Since 1986, the facility has provided primary power to communities in the South Slave region. The Taltson system is connected to the communities by 200 km of transmission lines, maintained by NTPC. Depending on the time of year, available capacity from Taltson facility ranges from 3.5 MW to 8 MW, according to a release.

However, the turbine and generator as well as other key components have reached their end-of-life and must be replaced. Refurbishment of the Taltson unit will help ensure that electricity customers have access to renewable and reliable hydro power for the next 50 years.

“Taltson Hydro has operated reliably, providing renewable electricity to customers for many years. The facility has not required significant capital investment but the time has come to reinvest in this valuable asset,” said Cory Strang, president and chief executive officer of NTPC.

The project will require the generating unit in the Taltson powerhouse to be taken offline for six months. During this period, electricity customers will receive their primary power from diesel generators. Interruptible electric heat customers will rely on their backup heating systems while Taltson Hydro is offline.

Despite the higher cost of diesel generation, electricity rates will remain the same during the shutdown, NTPC said. The long-term impact of the overhaul on rates will not be known until NTPC submits its next General Rate Application to the NWT Public Utilities Board.  

NTPC is a wholly owned subsidiary of NT Hydro, which is 100% owned by the Government of the Northwest Territories. NTPC supplies power using hydro, thermal and intermittent renewable energy facilities. Its hydro plants are located on the Snare, Bluefish and Taltson rivers and directly supply the North Slave communities of Behchoko and Dettah and the South Slave communities of Fort Smith and Fort Resolution. NTPC also provides hydro power to Northland Utilities Limited (NUL), which distributes power in the North Slave communities of Yellowknife/N’Dilo and the South Slave communities of Hay River, K’atl’odeeche First Nation and Enterprise.