NTPC’s Snare Falls hydro plant back up and running

After being shut down for almost four weeks, the NWT Power Corporation (NTPC) said on Friday morning its Snare Falls hydro plant is back in service.

The plant has been shut down since May 4 after an inspection revealed oil was missing. Workers had earlier noticed an oil sheen on the water, though it took two investigations to discover oil could not be accounted for.

“The source of the leak from the hydro plant was located and repaired, the unit has been successfully tested, and the unit is now considered back to fully functional,” said the power corporation in a news release.

How much the shutdown and repairs will cost is not known, NTPC said.

The power corporation said the cost of diesel generation at the Jackfish plant in Yellowknife during the shutdown – supplying extra power to make up for that lost at Snare Falls – was lower than it had estimated, at approximately $10,000 per day.

Diesel generation was not needed on weekends to support the demand, the corporation said.

Earlier in the month, the power corporation had suggested electricity customers in Yellowknife reduce their energy consumption so “the cost of this unplanned shutdown can be minimized.”