Wind, solar projects approved at Kitikmeot gold mine — with wildlife measures

An energy project at a mine site in Nunavut's Kitikmeot region has been approved to build a wind farm and solar array that the company says will offset its emissions by up to 50 per cent and won't impact wildlife.

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal approved the proposal on July 8 for mining company B2Gold to build what the company is calling the Back River Energy Centre on its Back River gold mine, about 400 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay.

The project includes up to 13 wind turbines, a solar array and battery storage on the company's Goose property.

In consultations on the project, residents of Kitikmeot communities raised concern over potential impacts on migratory birds and caribou, but a project officer with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA) says all 26 of the issues residents identified are being addressed.

John Roesch, a senior project officer with the KIA, said the project helps to balance Inuit profiting off of resources on Inuit land — achieved through royalties to the KIA — and maintaining proper protection over that land too.

Residents' primary concerns focused on the sound of the wind turbines disturbing caribou migration and birds flying into them, according to a Nunavut Impact Review Board report.

Simulation of the wind turbines that would be built in the project's Goose area. The company says the turbines will be shut off during caribou and bird migrations to mitigate impact on wildlife. (B2Gold)

To address those concerns, Merle Keefe, B2Gold Nunavut's environmental manager, said the energy centre will shut its wind turbines down when caribou are nearby. He said in addition to traditional knowledge on caribou migration, the company will collaborate with the government of the Northwest Territories on collar data to know when caribou are travelling east toward Nunavut. Keefe said that will trigger wildlife monitors to stand guard and identify when the animals are nearing the mine to stop the turbines.

Similarly, he said the company will stop the turbines during peak periods of bird migration and that B2Gold is working with the KIA and the federal government to improve lighting so the birds are less likely to collide with the turbines.

The wind turbines are expected to be 180 metres high and spaced 500 metres apart. The energy storage system would be 400 by 400 metres and include 10 12-metre sea cans, as well as a solar array that's 200 by 400 metres.

Keefe said the turbine spacing is designed to allow birds to pass between them.

The project is still years away from being complete, according to B2Gold. The company still needs to finalize the design, consult on that update with the KIA and Nunavut residents, and then finally build the project.

The company says it should be online within the next 10 years.