Transmission line to connect Nunavut’s power grid to Manitoba gets funding boost from Ottawa

The federal government is kicking in $2.8 million to help build an electricity transmission line that would connect Manitoba’s power grid to the Kivalliq region of Nunavut.

Led by Nukik, an Inuit-owned corporation, the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link proposes to build a 1,200 kilometre, 150 megawatt transmission line with fibre-optic cabling. This project would take five communities and at least one gold mine off costly and polluting diesel for electricity and also deliver high-speed internet to the region.

Many communities in the North continue to rely on diesel for electricity and heat, which is costly, polluting, and contributes to climate change. This Inuit-led project will play an important role in reducing energy costs and pollution in the Kivalliq region, while helping to create local jobs and multi-generational socio-economic benefits, according to a press release issued by Indigenous Services Canada.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs’ (CIRNAC’s) Northern REACHE program supports Indigenous and northern communities’ transition away from diesel fuel for electricity and heating by supporting and funding for renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, hydroelectricity, and biomass heating.

It would also significantly reduce the risk associated with shipping heavy fuels across the Arctic waters and fuel spills in communities, it said.

This funding will advance the project development phase activities, which include the engineering, design, and environmental fieldwork necessary for the project to move forward. It builds on previous federal funding for the earlier planning and feasibility phase of the project. Construction is expected to begin by 2028.

Prior to this announcement, the Government of Canada, through CIRNAC and Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency provided $11.6 million in funding to support the earlier planning and feasibility phase of the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link project.

To date, Northern REACHE has supported a total of ten hydroelectricity projects in the North with an investment of over $35 million, including two for projects in Nunavut.