|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|||||||
 |
New Fort McPherson Power Plant Operational Hay River (February 3 , 2005) Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) is pleased to announce today that after a little more than a year from the day that a fire completely destroyed the Fort McPherson power plant, a “new power plant” has emerged from the ashes to provide power to the customers of Fort McPherson. In the early morning hours of Monday, January 19, 2004, fire swept through the former power plant destroying the facility. As part of NTPC’s standing Emergency Response Plan, an Emergency Response Team was activated and an initial response emergency generator was deployed from Inuvik. Power crews from around the NWT were assembled and sent to Fort McPherson as well. Within hours a second emergency generator was deployed via a Hercules aircraft from Hay River to Inuvik where crews and equipment were waiting to road the equipment from Inuvik to Fort McPherson. Partial power was restored to the community within 10 hours. Crews worked tirelessly for the next several days in extreme weather conditions with temperatures ranging from -45 to -50C to restore full power to the community. A state of emergency was declared by the community and Emergency Measures Organization. During times of adversity the spirit of cooperation in the North is never failing and it was never more evident than when NTPC, working in conjunction with the community leadership in Fort McPherson, the RCMP, the EMO, and other government departments, was able to reduce the electrical demand in order that everyone could benefit from the use of some power to their homes. This was a remarkable achievement in and of itself given the extreme weather conditions and the Corporation is thankful for all those who helped during this emergency. Demolition of the old plant and construction of the new power plant began towards the end of March 2004. In ten short months with the cooperation of too many individuals and groups to mention, NTPC has constructed a new state of the art power plant.The new power plant will provide 1820kw and include two new fuel efficient genset engines and one rebuilt engine that was saved from the fire. In addition to a more fuel efficient engine lineup with the ability to provide residual heat, the configuration also supports NTPC’s environmental commitment to continue to lower green house gas emissions in the NWT. The new power house building is also now a steel frame building with steel walls situated on steel piles. The new plant also features three new 90,000 litre double walled fuel tanks that mitigate the potential for fuel spills. The demolition of the old plant and the construction of the new plant involved a team led by NTPC personnel and a total of 38 contractors and sub-contractors. This included 22 contractors and sub-contractors from the Northwest Territories. The NTPC is proud to report that no lost time accidents were experienced during the construction of the new plant. According to Leon Courneya, President and CEO of NTPC, “Today marks a new beginning in Fort McPherson for our customers and NTPC as we celebrate the commissioning of this new power plant. It also is a time to once again say thank you to our customers and the community for their cooperation and support during this past year. I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of NTPC personnel and the construction team for their work in safely building this plant in such a short period of time”. The “official opening” of the plant will be celebrated with the community of Fort McPherson in late March as part of the Winter Carnival. For more information contact: Vaughan Slade, Communications Coordinator
|