Strategic Area
Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities
Status
Completed
Partners
JMK Engineering Inc.
Natural Forces
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Town of St. Mary’s Harbour
Fund
Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities Program
Year
2018
Agreement Value
$3,035,129
Project Total
$5,887,906
Location
Mary’s Harbour, NL
Find out more
Hydro power for Mary's Harbour? Engineer says he can save province 270K litres of diesel
Lead Proponent
St. Mary’s River Energy LP
Project Background
This project’s objectives included refurbishing a decommissioned run-of-river hydro plant at Mary’s Harbour, NL, adding new solar photovoltaic and lithium-ion battery capacity, and integrating operations with an existing diesel-based grid using innovative controls.
The original 150-kW hydro plant, commissioned in 1987, was refurbished as a 240 -kW hydro system with new generating, penstock, and balance-of-plant components , newly commissioned in 2019. A new 189-kW solar photovoltaic plant was installed with 334.5 kW / 669 kWh lithium-ion battery storage and a modern control system, commissioned in 2021.
Results
The new system reduces diesel use in Mary’s Harbour by about 30%.
The project implemented a novel micro-grid controller to manage the renewable resources in coordination with the NL Hydro diesel generation system. The system includes predictive weather technology to guarantee power quality is delivered to the community while maximizing energy use from the renewable technology.
This project demonstrates that hybrid renewable energy generation and energy storage systems with integrated micro-grid controllers are capable of reducing diesel use and can be operated in a way that does not compromise customer service standards.
Benefits to Canada
Successful completion of this project has led to a reduction in diesel consumption with a corresponding reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Mary’s Harbour Renewables Project demonstrates the potential for remote communities to reduce diesel consumption and become a larger part of Canada’s renewable energy industry. Expertise developed in implementing this project provides key information and lessons learned for other renewable energy projects in remote communities across Canada. The knowledge gained will reduce risk to similar projects in the future.
Anticipated Environmental Benefits: Reduced diesel fuel consumption by 30% annually.
Next Steps
The Proponent continues to optimize project operations to achieve the maximum renewable energy penetration for the town of Mary’s Harbour.
With renewable energy projects being advanced in Northern and remote communities, especially within Newfoundland and Labrador, this project sets precedent for similar projects aiming to reduce diesel fuel dependency.