The NWT Power Corporation is planning power outages in the South Slave as it tests the Taltson hydro facility following refurbishment work.
The 60-year-old hydro plant was taken offline in May 2023 for renovations that were expected to take until November that year.
A wildfire and a series of other problems meant the work has actually taken till now, while the projected cost has risen from around $70 million to nearly $100 million.
On Monday, the power corporation said it is beginning the process of commissioning Taltson – bringing it back online – with most of the overhaul now complete.
Between Sunday, January 19 and Wednesday, January 22, NTPC said a number of planned outages will take place as workers switch between diesel and hydro to see how Taltson performs.
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“This is critical testing of the hydro unit and the transmission infrastructure to ensure that when hydro is fully restored, the system is stable,” the power corporation stated.
Fort Smith is expected to experience an outage of “less than 30 minutes” on January 19. “At least one planned outage will be required in both Fort Smith and Hay River each day from January 20-22,” NTPC said. Fort Resolution will not be affected.
NTPC said it would provide more details about the timing of the outages nearer those dates.
“The full restoration of power from Taltson to South Slave hydro communities will occur once all commissioning activities are successfully concluded,” NTPC added.
Those communities have been on diesel power for more than 18 months in the absence of Taltson. Reliance on diesel generators around the clock for such a long time was considered a factor in an extended Fort Smith power outage earlier this month.
