Diesel plays outsized role in NWT’s growing annual emissions

The latest data shows the growing role of diesel in the Northwest Territories’ increasing annual greenhouse gas emissions of recent years.

Figures published this month in the NWT government’s annual Energy Initiatives Report show emissions from diesel doubled in 2023, the latest year for which data is available.

The territory burned even more diesel for energy in 2024 than it did in 2023, meaning 2024’s data – when made public – is likely to reflect an even higher emissions figure from the NWT’s electricity sector.

Overall, NWT emissions were up 0.6 percent year on year in 2023 to 1,360 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

The NWT has two targets:

• by 2030: bring emissions down to 1,094 kt, 30 percent below 2005 levels; and
• by 2050: reach net-zero emissions.

The territory can still reach its 2030 goal, if for no other reason than diamond mines closing. Mines like Diavik are some of the territory’s largest emitters and as those mines cease operations – Diavik stops active mining next month – the NWT will move much closer to its target, while bearing an economic cost.

Net zero by 2050 looks significantly harder. The NWT has called this an “aspirational” target and will soon roll out a new strategy designed to set out steps toward it.

Burning huge quantities of diesel may not be in any strategy but has been considered a necessity in recent years to cope with low water levels along hydro systems and a years-long series of failures and mishaps at Taltson, the NWT’s largest single hydro plant.

The diesel burned to keep generating power in those circumstances has cost tens of millions of dollars and comes at a significant environmental cost, too.

At the moment, the GNWT has a goal of reducing diesel use for power generation by 25 percent (not counting the recent surge). Work has begun on a plan to get there, but that plan remains in its early stages.

The plan also has to cope with the realities of life in the North. While advocates are pointing to newer technologies like batteries for backup power in isolated communities, diesel has long been considered the most reliable power source the territory has, even if it’s also the most environmentally damaging.

“Communities not connected to one of the NWT’s two hydroelectricity grids rely on diesel and natural gas for their electricity needs,” the GNWT’s Energy Initiatives Report states.

“In 2024, due to low water flows in the Snare system and refurbishment work at the Taltson generating facility, diesel generation was increased to compensate for reduced hydroelectric output, which provided only 39% of the electricity needs.

“As a result, fossil fuels led electricity generation in 2024, with diesel contributing 52% and natural gas 6%. Community-scale solar and wind power contributed 2% to the total generation mix, which was an increase from previous years.”

The GNWT has now instructed the territory’s utilities regulator to “support renewable energy growth while protecting utilities and ratepayers.”

In the coming years, that should mean it gradually becomes easier to use renewables in many NWT communities, though the precise pathway for that to happen isn’t yet clear.