The N.W.T. government is getting up to $25 million in new federal funding for a hydro expansion project that would double the territory’s current hydro-generating capacity.

The money, announced on Wednesday, is from the federal Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund and will go toward the expansion of the Taltson hydro system, a project the territory has long been trying to make happen. It would connect the North and South Slave systems and allow each one to serve as a backup for the other.

The project includes building a new 60-megawatt facility near the existing one south of Great Slave Lake.

Wednesday’s announcement comes as N.W.T. residents face a potential rise in energy prices, and as mining companies eye the territory for their next project.

Michael McLeod, the territory’s MP, was at the announcement along with deputy premier Caroline Wawzonek.

McLeod says the project is a step toward cleaner energy and supporting critical mineral development in the region.

“If we want to have a successful energy transition we will need more critical minerals,” said McLeod.

He cited the N.W.T.’s potential for potash, uranium, lithium, nickel and more. Officials hope the Taltson expansion will aid the territory with capitalizing on these mineral resources as green energy needs increase.

“Climate change is rapidly changing the global economy in ways that are creating economic opportunities,” added McLeod.

‘If we want to have a successful energy transition we will need more critical minerals,’ said N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod, centre, at Wednesday’s announcement. (Allister Mccreadie/CBC)

While the timeline and final cost of the expansion project remains uncertain, Wawzonek said now is a good time for it, compared to recent years when the territory was dealing with emergencies and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think this is an exciting place to be. It’s further along than we’ve been in the past,” she said.

Wawzonek said there will also be a transmission line to connect the Taltson grid with the Snare hydro system, located north of Great Slave Lake. She said that the expansion will connect 11 communities to the grid.

Currently the project is in the pre-construction and consultation phase. Wawzonek said it’s a project she’d like to see ready to be built by the end of her term but acknowledged that timeline might be “a little bit ambitious.”