Old Crow plans to get into the public utility business with renewable solar energy for the sake of the environment, energy security and business.

“The project is viable economically,” William Josie, director of natural resources and heritage for the Vuntut Gwitchin Development Corp., said in an interview Tuesday. “That is why we are going forward.

“We are looking at after 11 years of paying back the capital cost, we are looking at around $300,000 in revenue every year.

“Our plan is to own the facility. We just have to figure out whether it will be through the development corporation or a community corporation.”

Josie said the feasibility study has just been updated, and the light is still green.

The Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board began the public comment period for the application on Monday. The deadline for comments is July 22.

Josie said the community of 250 has always been interested in reducing diesel generation with a renewable form of energy while strengthening energy security for the community.

Going back to the 1980s, Old Crow began looking at wind generation on top of Old Crow Mountain but had to contend with turbine blades icing during the winter months, he explained.

He said the proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy security for the community arose out of the same sort of push for the community garden project to strengthen food security and reduce costs.

The project calls for the construction of a large array of solar photovoltaic panels along with battery storage next to the community airport.

It’s expected solar energy will reduce the need for diesel generation by 17 per cent over a year, displacing 97,619 litres of diesel fuel, says the application to the assessment board.

The application notes for the project to proceed, it’s necessary for the Vuntut Gwitchin government to enter into an agreement with ATCO Electric Yukon where ATCO agrees to buy the power.

And the power purchase agreement would require approval by the Yukon Utilities Board.

“If a PPA (power purchase agreement) is secured in the coming year, the project could move into the construction phase as early as the summer of 2017, depending on project funding and community capacity,” says the application.

“We had some discussions with them in the past, so yes, there is still to be talks down the road, and we definitely have to go together to the Yukon Utilities Board.

“But we are optimistic as a community that we will get the support. It is just a good thing to do.”

Old Crow is one of six isolated communities serviced entirely by ATCO and powered exclusively by diesel generation, though Burwash Landing is also making inroads with renewable energy.

As the only Yukon community not accessible by road, Old Crow has to have fuel to power the generators flown in.

Josie said when they looked at the project cost four years ago, it was estimated at $2.9 million.

Today, it’s down to $2.3 million, and could go even lower with the rapid advancements in technology that seem to be happening every month in the field of solar energy, he said.

Josie said he doesn’t believe raising the financing will be difficult, particularly with the growing federal and territorial government interest in pursuing renewable energy alternatives.

Funding support to do the feasibility work, for instance, was provided by federal agencies.

The Yukon government has already committed $1 million to assist with the Kluane First Nation’s installation of a wind turbine in Burwash, he pointed out.

“There is a lot of interest in this project,” he said. “They are pretty excited about this.”

Josie said it will create jobs during construction and the First Nation plans to partner with Yukon College to ensure there are a couple of locals who are trained to look after and manage the solar facility.

The application points out there will be no need to disturb the permafrost to support the array of panels, as steel cages filled with gravel that sit on the surface are likely to serve as the foundation.

There have also been steps taken in the design and material selection to ensure there are no issues with glare off the panels affecting pilot visibility, the application points out.

Over the last several years in Alaska, there has been a substantial and successful push to reduce diesel dependency in remote communities using various forms of renewable energy, including solar and wind.

ATCO general manager Jay Massie said this morning the company supports in principle the reduction of diesel dependency in the communities it serves that are not on the grid.

ATCO has been in discussions with Old Crow, though it’s not intimate with the project proposal, he said.

Massie pointed out before it can enter into any power purchase agreements, work on the government’s Independent Power Production policy needs to be finalized.

While the policy was delivered last year, ATCO, Yukon Energy and territorial government officials are still ironing out the details, such as the standards required for independent producers to tie into the grid, he pointed out.

Massie said it’s complicated.

“We are talking binders and binders.”

The parties have targeted this fall to complete the work, he said.

Massie said the overriding principles of the policy demand that tying in independent producers cannot affect the integrity of the grid nor ratepayers.