Big River ready for next stage of hydrokinetic project

Following “promising” research on the Mackenzie River, or Deh Cho, Big River Service is working to advance a project that could harness the power of the mighty river to provide clean energy.

The business hopes to deploy a hydrokinetic turbine in the water and establish a microgrid to replace diesel as the main power source for its gas station and service centre outside Fort Providence on Highway 3, the road connecting Yellowknife to southern Canada.

If the turbine provides surplus power, the business said it may be used to support community facilities, such as an electric vehicle charging station.

Big River, which is owned by the Fort Providence Métis Council, has said it spends nearly $200,000 a year on electricity generated from diesel or propane. It aims to become the first NWT company to achieve zero-carbon status using hydrokinetic technology.

James Christie, vice-president of the Fort Providence Métis Council, said the hydrokinetic project is a “unique opportunity to rethink how we approach energy in the North, grounded in the land led by the people who live on it.”

He said the project is not only a potential clean-energy solution but a way to support long-term economic stability if revenue is lost in the future from decreased fuel sales as people and industry transition to electric vehicles.

So far, Big River and project partners have completed community outreach and traditional knowledge surveys, research on flow rates on the river with local youth, and drone surveillance of spring breakup.

In the coming weeks, project partners plan to place instruments in the river near the service centre to collect water flow data throughout the year.

Big River hopes that research will support the launch of a demonstration project in 2026 and ultimately the operation of an underwater turbine that generates electricity from river currents year-round.

Those plans were discussed at a roundtable meeting in Yellowknife on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the federal government announced $557,600 in funding from the Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities Program to support the hydrokinetic project’s work in 2025.

“Investing in clean energy projects like this one is about more than just innovation, it’s about supporting northern communities as they lead the way in creating a more sustainable future,” said NWT MP and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty.

Also in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting was Fabienne Joly, director of development for Ocean Renewable Power Company Canada (ORPC). Big River is planning to use the company’s RivGen Power System, which uses a turbine to convert the kinetic energy of moving water into electricity.

Joly said one of ORPC’s turbines has been operational in the Kvichak River and supplying power to Iguigig, Alaska since October 2019. The company installed a second turbine in the river in 2023.

The power system has been able to survive freeze-up and break-up, Joly said, and has had no noticeable negative impacts on the environment.

“We won’t make sushi with the turbine,” she said, explaining that fish naturally avoid the turbine as it is installed in an area of fast-moving water.

While the RivGen system has been tested in Manitoba, the Big River project could become the first commercial demonstration of an ORPC turbine in Canada.

Beyond providing emission-free energy to Big River, project lead Peter Allen said a Fort Providence-based installation could lead the way for other NWT communities interested in producing their own clean energy.

According to the project team, 11 communities in the NWT currently rely on diesel where hydrokinetic energy could be used.

Research conducted on the Mackenzie River in 2024 showed favourable results for Wrigley, Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River.