In the spring of 2009, EA was contacted by the planner for the Gwawaenuk First Nations, they had heard we had some innovative power solutions that may work well with their project. Numerous meetings and presentations later, and we had come up with a plan.

This project was funded by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and is an excellent example of the innovative solutions that are available for remote power supply that consume substantially less fossil fuels than the old standby, the diesel generation plant.

Energy Alternatives was responsible for:

• Design, fabrication, testing delivery and installation of a hybrid power system to provide the community 24 hr electricity
• Design and installation of commercial grade satellite internet
• Design and installation of commercial VoIP telephone service.
• All on-site wiring and distribution.

EA's hybrid containerized power system will provide the community with 24hr electricity without having to run a diesel generator 24x7. The system works similar to a hybrid vehicle by leveraging the strengths of the internal combustion engine combined with energy storage.

System Details:

• Dual 25 kW diesel generators.
• 12 kW inverter capacity.
• 100 kWh AGM battery bank.
• Remote monitoring and control system to automate system operation, and to allow remote operators to monitor and control the system if required.
• Triple redundancy and emergency system shutdown features.
• Entire power system is housed in a customized 20' shipping container, fabricated off-site and delivered to the community ready to run.

Time-lapse of the on-site installation November 2010.

Project Partners