Supporting Nunavik's energy transition

Integration of renewable energies

Partenaire

Les Énergies Tarquti Inc.

Période de réalisation

In progress

Le projet

Tarquti Energies has an ambitious vision for the energy transition in Nunavik, and is committed to the deployment of green energy in several villages. Nergica is positioning itself as a research partner and is offering its technical support to accompany the deployment of wind and solar projects throughout Nunavik, which will help reduce diesel consumption in these isolated communities.

As part of these aboriginal governance projects, Nergica has contributed to the operation of meteorological masts, notably in Kuujjuaq (photo right, credit Makivik Corporation), as well as to the deployment of a lidar powered by an autonomous electrical supply system.

In Nunavik, as elsewhere, community involvement and training of the local workforce are crucial to the success of renewable energy projects. This is why Nergica is supporting Tarquti in its capacity-building efforts, aimed at ensuring the sustainability of renewable energy projects.

Nergica, Tarquti and Hydro-Québec are working on a major research project to develop an approach for improving the integration of renewable energies, optimizing solutions for the specific needs of Nunavik communities. Funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), this major three-year project aims to develop tools that take into account the social, technical, economic and climatic constraints inherent to Nunavik communities, which complicate the evaluation and profitability of an RE project.

Challenges

Commercial technology solutions are inadequate for northern conditions, which include extremely cold temperatures, blizzards, frost build-up on infrastructure and difficult access for maintenance during the winter season.

The reality of isolated communities requires our team to innovate in order to overcome the logistical challenges of transportation, construction, installation, access to materials and equipment, and lack of manpower.

In figures

14 Nunavik communities could embark on their energy transition with the help of Tarquti, with technical support from Nergica
5 meteorological masts and a lidar already deployed in Nunavik
Three-year, three-pronged research project in collaboration with Hydro-Québec

Highlights

In recent years, the partnership between Nergica and Tarquti has led to significant advances in the field, laying the foundations for a sustainable energy transition in Nunavik. From the deployment of measurement infrastructures to the launch of an ambitious research program, the actions undertaken are evidence of concrete progress towards energy self-sufficiency for northern communities.