Research on Big River hydrokinetic project is ‘promising’

Spencer Bonnetrouge says being part of an energy project in the Dehcho has been a “really eye-opening” experience.

Bonnetrouge lives in Fort Providence and is one of the youth interns working on a project that aims to harness the power of the Mackenzie River, or Deh Cho, using an in-stream turbine.

Earlier this month, he joined researchers on the water to measure flow rates near Fort Providence, Jean Marie River, Fort Simpson and Wrigley, to determine if hydrokinetic turbines placed in the water can generate enough power to displace diesel-generated electricity.

“It was nice to see what’s underneath the Mackenzie River, to see how fast the water flows,” Bonnetrouge said, adding he also learned more about the impacts of climate change.

This week, the team is headed to Manitoba to visit the Canadian Hydrokinetic Turbine Test Centre, a non-profit research institute associated with the University of Manitoba. There, they’ll learn more about hydrokinetic technologies, which produce renewable energy by harnessing the kinetic energy of water, or the energy that results from its motion.

Frankenstein and beams

Derek Neufeld is an engineer at Turtle Island Innovations, a non-profit focused on renewable energy that is working on the NWT project. He said a pontoon boat used for the Mackenzie River study was purpose-built for flow analysis and is “like a real-life laboratory subdivision of the University of Manitoba.”

The recycled vessel was made from parts left behind at the Canadian Hydrokinetic Turbine Test Centre. Eric Bibeau, director of the centre and part of Turtle Island Innovations, calls the boat “Frankenstein.”

“What makes it really unique is just having a big, flat, open deck, really stable, and it’s got an arm that sticks out the side that holds the flow measurement device – ADCP, or acoustic doppler current profiler,” Neufeld said.

“When we find a site of interest, we’ll move to one shore, put the instrument in the water and then traverse perpendicular to the flow. And that ADCP goes and gives us a profile of the bottom as well as a velocity profile in the column of water below the boat.”

“What we want to do is leave behind a database of measurement so that people can plan for the future,” Bibeau said.

“Every community should have a fairly good idea of how much biomass, hydro, wind and solar they have, and geothermal.”

Wisdom of the Elders and energy of youth

Traditional knowledge helped inform the study.

Gonezu Energy, an Indigenous-owned company based in Fort Providence, held events where residents could learn and ask questions about the project and fill out traditional knowledge surveys on the river.

“Overall, everybody was very supportive of it,” said Jason Collard, chief executive officer of Gonezu Energy.

“Communities, and especially rural and remote and Indigenous communities in the North, are interested in looking at renewable energy options and especially for Indigenous communities in the Dehcho, trying to look at taking ownership of those options as a means of kind-of self-determination moving forward.”

Gonezu also helped to hire the four community energy interns.

Neufeld said it’s important to involve youth in renewable energy projects as they are the “future of any community.”

“It’s important to have people coming from every age of life, every walk of life when you come together with a plan because everybody comes to the table with a slightly different perspective,” he said.

“You bring the wisdom of the Elders, the experience of the Elders, the energy and the desire for learning from the youth and together you flourish.”

Results ‘quite reassuring’

Researchers and advocates of the NWT project say initial findings from the river study are promising.

“We’ve been able to find some really good sites,” Bibeau said.

“The results are quite promising in terms of what the future capabilities would be for hydrokinetics,” said Peter Allen, an advisor to the board of Big River Service Centre, which helped organize the initiative.

“It’s quite reassuring that maybe those original hypotheses had some validity.”

Big River aims to become the first NWT company to achieve zero-carbon status using hydrokinetic technology. Owned by the Fort Providence Métis Council, it’s primarily known for its gas station and service centre on Highway 3 outside Fort Providence.

Allen said the project would demonstrate that Big River is an innovative company, displace diesel use with a more environmentally responsible power source, reduce pressure on the community grid and build community and Métis pride.

More broadly, he said there are 11 communities across the territory where similar technology could be used. He hopes the project will increase understanding and support for hydrokinetics as part of an NWT-wide energy strategy.

He said the next step for the project is seeking funding for a pilot demonstration.

Hydrokinetics in action

Lyle Morrisseau is a member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. A 25-kilowatt hydrokinetic turbine installed in the Winnipeg River supplies power to the First Nation’s community.

“I think as First Nations people, we have to look at the whole aspect of renewables if we’re going to get involved,” said Morrisseau, who is now involved in the NWT project.

“We have to look in terms of the supply chains, in terms of servicing, maintaining and also being able to expand our systems.”

According to Bibeau, hydrokinetic turbines have a minimal impact on fish as they are installed in areas of water with fast flow.

“There have been some pretty exhaustive laboratory experiments and the fish do stay away from the blades,” he said.

“I myself, as a researcher, have never seen impacts after 20 years of testing these things, and we would like to know more impacts.”