Repairs at Snare Falls hydro plant to take longer: NWT Power Corp
Crews assessing plant, could be down for 4 to 6 months
Repairs to the Snare Falls Hydroelectric Plant will take at least 10 days longer than expected, according to a news release from the NWT Power Corporation.
Snare Falls is one of four generating facilities in the Snare River hydroelectric system that powers Yellowknife, Dettah and Behchoko. Running diesel generators to help meet electricity demand while the Snare Falls plant is inactive is costing about $40,000 a day in fuel.
The release says crews have inspected a turbine that failed two weeks ago, and found cracks in some of the turbine blades.
Divers arrived at the plant on Sunday. They'll spend the next several days draining and sealing the turbine chamber. Once it's empty, crews will assess the damage and decide how to proceed.
They have to determine whether to repair the turbine and overhaul it in the summer, or do a complete overhaul immediately.
If they repair it, the turbine could be back in service about the end of March. A complete overhaul would require a four- to six-month shutdown.
In that case, the Power Corporation says it would absorb all of the additional fuel costs into a capital project and spread the cost over the life of the plant.
The corporation doesn't have an estimate of the total repair costs.