Community Project of the Year Sissons Court: Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Operational since May 2022, Sissons Court’s biomass district heating plant provides sustainable wood pellet heat for public housing units in Yellowknife, N.W.T. The system replaced 46 fuel-oil furnace systems heating 53 residential units with fan coils heated by a centralized Viessmann 300kW wood pellet boiler with a propane backup system consisting of three propane boilers to meet peak demand and provide backup when needed.

The project was very much a locally driven and supplied initiative. The system was designed by a northern consultant team, TAG Engineering, with assistance from the technical team at the Government of the Northwest Territories. The wood pellet boiler was supplied by Fink Machine, while the installation was performed by local mechanical contractor Taylor & Company, based out of Hay River, N.W.T. Most of the wood pellets are supplied from northern Alberta at pellet mills in La Crete and Slave Lake.

“Here in Yellowknife and N.W.T., wood pellets have slowly been adopted more and more since the first few installations happened in 2007,” says Mischa Malakoe, manager of energy planning and projects at Housing Northwest Territories (Housing NWT). “There’s been quite a number of projects since then, both in the private sector and government.”

The project, partially funded by The Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund, demonstrates a commitment to sustainable infrastructure within the community and sucessful collaboration between Housing NWT and local contractors.

By switching over to wood pellets, the project is expected to generate significant reductions in energy costs and emissions. Malakoe says on a per energy basis, fuel oil  typically costs about 15 to 17 cents per kilowatt hour, while wood pellets typically cost about seven cents per kilowatt hour. They are still in the early stages of estimating the annual savings, but based on its first year of operation, the project generated 300 tons of GHG offset and about $125,000 of savings.

“As northerners, we’re hyper cognizant of energy costs. The energy consumption is so high. We’re all very aware of how much it takes and costs to heat a home, so we have a lot of buy-in. A lot of people burn wood pellets as a cost savings measure and a GHG reduction,” Malakoe says. “In certain parts of the N.W.T., such as the Arctic Coast, we are seeing extreme climate situations – permafrost degradation, coastal erosion – it’s the immediate effects of climate change. People are aware of it, so it helps us make our shift.” •

This article is part of Bioheat Week. Read more articles about bioheat in Canada.