IEEE Electrification - December 2020 - 37

PPROXIMATELY 1.1 BILLION, OR 14%, OF THE
global population do not have access to
electricity due to the challenges associated
with energy supply. Around 84% of those
without electricity access reside in rural
areas, with more than 95% being in sub-Saharan Africa
and the developing parts of Asia. In Canada, about 72% of
off-grid aboriginal and nonaboriginal communities use
fossil fuel (oil: 71%, natural gas: 0.8%) as their main source
of electricity generation, and only 4.7% of these communities rely on renewable energy sources (RES). In addition,
17.9% fulfill their energy demand through interconnections with other communities as they don't have enough
resources to support their own needs. The remaining 5.6%
are reported to rely on unknown sources of electricity (see
Arriaga et al. 2014).
Satisfying the electricity demand in remote communities (RCs) is a challenging issue due to their geographical
locations, extreme weather conditions, consumption patterns, and availability of energy sources. In Canada, RCs
are only reachable by seasonal roads, sea, or air; the supply of fuel to their location is limited, and therefore there
is a demand for storing fuel to provide
energy when needed. Moreover, since
RCs are spread across Canada, without access to the bulk power system,
they cannot benefit from the economy of scale or the low cost of generation. Therefore, high operation and
maintenance (O&M) costs, along with
high transportation and fuel storage
expenses, need to be added to the
total cost of electricity. In addition,
fluctuations in oil price can negatively
impact the cost of electricity generation in these communities.
This article is focused on microgrid
(MG) planning for Canadian RCs using
different mixtures of RES and nonRES to address the concerns regarding
the availability and affordability of
electricity supply in RCs. The outcomes of this article rely on the
studies performed by the Waterloo
Institute for Sustainable Energy and the University of
Waterloo for the World Wildlife, Canada (see Das and
Cañizares 2019).
The feasibility of implementing solar photovoltaics
(PVs), wind generators, natural gas generators, hydrogen
systems, and flow batteries in the community of Sanikiluaq is discussed here by considering their economical
and environmental viability. The presented studies focus
on analyzing whether the combination of renewable
energy resources along with storage capacities, including
hydrogen, is economically and environmentally advantageous compared to the current diesel generators. The

analysis is based on evaluating the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) as well as the number of operating hours
for diesel generators and their impact on the operating
costs, fuel consumption, and emissions, while considering hydrogen storage and natural gas generation, to
determine whether the introduction of renewable
resources ensures cost savings while satisfying demand
in the long term.

Electricity in Canadian Arctic Communities
The Canadian Northern Territories, Nunavut, Northwest
Territories, and Yukon, which are nearly 40% of Canada's land mass, are massive and sparsely populated.
Among the 114,000 people who live there, many reside
in the territorial capitals of Iqaluit, Yellowknife, and
Whitehorse. The largest of the 13 provinces and territories in Canada is Nunavut, illustrated in Figure 1, with a
total landmass of 1,936,113 km 2 distributed along
25 fully differentiated communities. The presented
study focuses on Sanikiluaq, which is located in the
southernmost part of Nunavut-about 150 km off the
west coast of Nunavik, Québec.
Sanikiluaq is the only permanent
settlement of the archipelago, as
other parts of the islands serve as
camps or temporary residences. Thus,
nearly 800 people reside in this community, which is also the center of
administration, trade, and communal
life. Therefore, in addition to the residential electricity load, enough capacity to support a variety of institutional
electricity demands is needed. The
center for administrative services is
the hamlet office, which includes the
Canadian Departments of Finance,
Recreation, Economic Development,
Community Lands, Justice, and Alcohol and Drug Control. Over 200 students attend the Nuiyak School and
daycare, which has about 25 employees, and there is a branch of the Nunavut Arctic College that offers adult
education. Health care is offered to
the residents of this community at the local clinic, and
dentists, doctors, and other specialists also visit the hamlet on a regular basis.
Qulliq Energy Corporation (QEC) is the sole power
utility that oversees the generation and distribution
of electricity in Nunavut by supplying electricity to
approximately 14,400 customers requiring electricity to
heat, light, and power their homes. Nunavut's energy
system is different from traditional systems in Canada,
since it is formed by isolated and unconnected local
MGs. Therefore, each community generates and distributes its own electricity in an independent/islanded

Qulliq Energy
Corporation is the
sole power utility
that oversees the
generation and
distribution of
electricity in
Nunavut by supplying
electricity to
approximately
14,400 customers.

IEEE Elec trific ation Magazine / D EC EM BE R 2 0 2 0

IEEE Electrification - December 2020

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