‘Four expressions of interest’ for Diavik solar farm

Staff at Diavik diamond mine say they’ve received four proposals to take on the mine’s solar panels when closure is complete in a few years’ time.

Mining at Diavik, which began in 2003, is set to end in March 2026. After that, workers will spend about three years closing down the site about 300 km northeast of Yellowknife.

Diavik’s 6,600-panel solar farm – built with the help of both territorial and federal funding – was commissioned last year to help power the mine through that closure process.

Like everything else being dismantled, eventually the solar farm will either need a new home or be consigned to the scrapheap.

A process inviting expressions of interest earlier this year “got four really good proposals,” Diavik closure manager Gord Stephenson told Yellowknife city councillors this week.

The identities of those expressing interest were not given.

The next step, Stephenson said, is to launch a more formal request for proposals by the end of 2025.

“We know it takes time in the public space to implement renewable energy from a permitting, design, partnership perspective,” he said.

“We want to get that out front and centre, so proposals that take into consideration those caveats can be pulled together.

“We know it takes time from the design side to put things in place, so that’ll be right away.”

Diavik is also home to four 2.3-megawatt wind turbines, built in 2012.

In 2023, mine staff said they expect those turbines to provide power during closure work and be near the end of their useful lives by the time that’s complete, suggesting a move to a community or other site is unlikely.