The town of Norman Wells is in the process of transitioning from diesel sourced from local oil operations to diesel run generation provided by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. The cost is anticipated to be greater than the current system that uses the byproduct diesel fuel. In January, Imperial Oil Ltd. announced a plan to close their Norman Wells facility this summer after more than 100 years in operation.
According to a public message by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, plans are in place to bring a third power generator alongside the two currently being used for back up power.
“A third generator will be necessary to provide additional backup options, once the plant becomes the primary source for power generation in Norman Wells.”
A 1.8 MW rental generator is anticipated to be commissioned this summer before a new NTPC-owned replaces it.
“It will be in place for a couple of months. Later this summer, an NTPC-owned unit will replace the rental unit, helping to keep generation costs down for this interim solution.”
Reps with NTPC said that earlier this week, a tender was issued for a new permanent genset, scheduled to be awarded in May 2026.
“The new genset is expected to arrive in Norman Wells on the 2027 winter road or on the 2027 summer barge with commissioning completed prior to March 2028.”
Doug Prendergast with NTPC said the full cost of the transition will be known once the generator is commissioned and the tender for a new permanent unit is issued.
“The full cost of the transition is not currently known as the rental generator has not yet been commissioned and the tender for a new permanent unit has just been issued,” he said.
Prendergast reported that the potential impact on rates is also unknown at this time.
“The impact on rates will not be known until after NTPC has a better sense of the cost to deliver power to customers in Norman Wells and provides an update to the Public Utilities Board,” said Prendergast.
Prendergast added that the cost to use the new generator will be greater than the current system.
“It has been known for many years that the cost for NTPC to generate power is more expensive than it is to purchase power from [Imperial Oil Limited] IOL as the fuel they use is a byproduct of their production.”
Prendergast said there will not be any additional jobs at the company created as a result of NTPC assuming responsibility for primary power generation for the town. He added there will be increased maintenance work for current staff and for contractors..
“There will be an increase in maintenance work required on our generators due to longer hours of operation than when the NTPC plant was being used to provide backup power. There will be more hours of work for trade staff, current plant casual operators and contractors. The work will require a range of skills so it is not possible to meet the needs by creating an additional full-time or casual position.”
Note: this story was updated from a previous version which indicated that NTPC would be using renewable energy to power the new generator.
