A Solution for Inuvik by: Alex Pysklywec, Shakira Scaini, Rakib Uddin Ahmed
[[Inuvik LNG Project][Fact Sheet: Energy Storage][CBC][Liquified Natural Gas]](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/29f51026-0755-4468-ae3e-0135ed21f37a/HtCtW_-_Inuvik_Energy_Crisis_-_v2.mp4)
[Inuvik LNG Project][Fact Sheet: Energy Storage][CBC][Liquified Natural Gas]
Inuvik and the surrounding communities are home to over 6000 people. These residents rely on electricity to go to work, school, get food, heat their homes, and to go about their everyday lives. The extremely high electricity costs for residents in Inuvik means that there is less money available for crucial needs such as healthy food, clothes, education/work supplies, and internet connection. The people of Inuvik and surrounding communities deserve to live comfortably without unnecessarily high electricity costs.
As a group of engineers, we connected to this community's energy problem through our passion to help people. We come from different fields of engineering study but are equally passionate about finding ways to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal #7 to provide affordable, reliable, sustainable energy for all. This remote community is experiencing a unique challenge that we want to solve to help the community thrive.
The cost of reliable electricity in Inuvik is too high for consumers partially due to the energy wasted during off-peak hours.
The generators used in Inuvik operate most efficiently when working at 70% capacity [Impact of under-loading on gas generators]. During peak hours when commercial and industrial consumers are using the most energy, the generators work at approximately 80-90% capacity. At night, during off-peak hours, the generators' capacity drops down to 50-60% and most of the electricity that is generated ends up discarded and unused [Mike Ocko]. Since the generators are not operating to the highest efficiency, energy is being wasted. Additionally, the current system in place requires regular maintenance, during which 15 minute blackouts occur [Mike Ocko]. These blackouts impede on day-to-day life of residents as well as pose threats to education, healthcare, and other commercial and industrial operations.
Everyone in Inuvik is impacted by expensive and undependable electricity. The primary groups of individuals in Inuvik that feel the effect of this issue first-hand include:
The Inuvik community wants safe, reliable, and sustainable energy at the lowest possible price. They value community involvement and need dependable, inexpensive electricity to carry out their daily lives.
Commercial consumers include hospitals, schools, government buildings, and businesses. They are the largest consumers of energy [NTR] in Inuvik, and they require very reliable and inexpensive energy to operate safely and effectively.
The different government bodies overseeing Inuvik control funding for any energy projects that are implemented in Inuvik. Up to 600 kWh of electricity consumption, they will cover 50% of the residents' electricity costs [NTR]. As such, they prefer a less expensive option of energy.
Canadian innovation companies like Temporal power and NRSTOR who introduced this technology successfully in Canada will have a key contribution both technologically and economically in this solution to succeed.