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The NWT Power Corporation says it’ll begin the final stages of bringing the Taltson hydro plant back online in early March.
Taltson ordinarily powers the territory’s South Slave region but has been offline since the summer because of corrosion to a key part of the facility known as a surge tank.
Work to fix the latest problem, initially estimated at $15 million, is now up to nearly $37 million, most of which is the cost of using diesel to power communities with Taltson out of service.
Taltson has existed for 60 years. Since the plant was shut down in May 2023 for what should have been a six-month-long overhaul, it has experienced a series of major problems. The overhaul itself ended up taking nearly two years.
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This week, NTPC said repair work to the surge tank is nearly complete and the commissioning process – bringing Taltson back online – is scheduled to begin on March 1.
An initial five-day “dry commissioning” process will be followed by six days of “wet commissioning” during which a range of tests will be completed to ensure the surge tank repair holds.
“These tests may cause fluctuations in water levels immediately downstream of the headgate to the confluence of the Taltson River and Trudel Creek and to the South Valley Spill Way,” NTPC stated.
“Any changes in water levels could potentially lead to unsafe ice conditions such as overflow in the affected areas which could make travel on the land dangerous. Accordingly, NTPC strongly advises land users to avoid these areas during this time and to exercise extreme caution if they do end up travelling on the land.”
