The Taltson Hydro Unit is back in operation after being offline since May 2023 for a major overhaul, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) announced Tuesday.
“The Taltson overhaul has been one of the largest the most complex projects in NTPC’s history,” said Cory Strang, the NTPC’s president and CEO.
The project was initially expected to take six months, but delays pushed back its completion to early 2025. The 2023 wildfire evacuations caused a postponement, followed by unforeseen issues that arose during initial commissioning in February 2024.
During the overhaul, NTPC say they replaced key components, including the turbine, turbine shaft, rotor, and generator. It also upgraded aging ancillary plant equipment, such as control panels and vibration monitoring systems.
“Extending the life of an existing asset like Taltson is an economical way to ensure that South Slave communities continue to be powered by clean hydro for the next 50 to 60 years,” stated Caroline Wawzonek, minister responsible for NTPC.
The final cost of the overhaul is approximately $97.8 million, with $17.8 million in federal funding supporting the project.
A rough breakdown includes $70 million in project costs, and about $45 million in fuel and other operation costs to keep South Slave communities powered by diesel generators while Taltson Hydro was offline.
While the hydro unit is now in commercial operation, NPTC say a temporary fix was implement earlier this year due to some technical issues. The facility is expected to be offline again later this summer for the installation of a permanent solution.
