The NWT government says it is spending $4 million to help open ultra-fast electric vehicle chargers in six more locations by the fall of 2024.
A level three charger installed by Northland Utilities, which can charge a vehicle in around half an hour, recently opened in Yellowknife with GNWT support. A second charger for the city is on the way.
The GNWT has already given the NWT Power Corporation just under half a million dollars to fund a charger in Behchokǫ̀, roughly an hour’s drive to the west.
A further $3.6 million announced on Thursday will help to pay for chargers in Fort Providence, Enterprise, Hay River, Buffalo Junction and Fort Smith, the territory said in a news release. (Buffalo Junction is the intersection of Highway 5 and Highway 6 east of Hay River, heading toward Fort Smith or Fort Resolution.)
The Behchokǫ̀ station is expected to open by the end of summer 2024, with the others intended to be operational that fall.
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The NWT previously received federal cash to support a mix of 22 level two and three chargers that would create a corridor between Yellowknife and Alberta. Some of the planned chargers are in locations like highway pullouts where no access to electricity currently exists, a logistical challenge that has the territory anticipating they won’t be available until at least 2030.
Initially, the territory had targeted the 2021-22 financial year for the opening of charging stations in Behchokǫ̀, Fort Providence, and Enterprise, but the timelines for those projects have slipped.
The power corporation will be responsible for the charging stations in Hay River, Buffalo Junction and Fort Smith. Northland Utilities will be responsible for the stations in Enterprise and Fort Providence.
