Institute investigates energy options for remote community

by Maria Lironi

What do you do if you live in a remote community that has only one power source and it suddenly stops working?

That’s the question researchers in UVic’s Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) are trying to answer in a two-year, $30,000 study sponsored by the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

The Huu-ay-aht First Nations community near Bamfield, a coastal village on the west coast of Vancouver Island, is ideally suited for such a study. And, if the Huu-ay-aht can generate their energy locally, it will create much-needed jobs and provide more autonomy.

To understand the current and future energy needs of the Huu-ay-aht, UVic mechanical engineering graduate student Christina Ianniciello spent last summer living in the village.

Ianniciello organized “energy activity days” to help residents become familiar with energy options. “We cooked hot dogs using solar energy, went on field trips, and participated in scavenger hunts,” she says. “It was a chance for me to meet members of the community and talk about their plans for the future. It was also a chance for the residents to get to know me.”

What Ianniciello discovered is that the village has a problem with the reliability of the power it receives from B.C. Hydro via a line from Port Alberni. Currently, it experiences as many as 30 outages annually averaging nine hours each.

The village is also interested in creating jobs and using energy more efficiently in its homes. This is especially timely as the main village of Ana’cla is being rebuilt and relocated to a higher location because of the possibility of damage from a tsunami. The village was severely damaged in a 1964 tsunami and the entire Ana’cla tribe, except for one person, was wiped out by a tsunami in the 1700s.

“As a result of Christina’s work we’ve come up with some ideas that have the potential to benefit the Huu-ay-aht economically and allow them to have consistent power,” says Dr. Peter Wild, IESVic’s acting director.

“For example, electrical storage may be one way for the community to ride out power outages. We’re also looking at using wind, micro-hydro and biomass energy.”

The IESVic team will present its recommendations to the Huu-ay-aht this summer.

“The timing of IESVic’s study is perfect,” says Tom Happynook, one of the hereditary chiefs and co-chief treaty negotiator for the Huu-ay-aht First Nations. “For the past six years we’ve been trying to build better homes for our families, as well as attempting to overcome the deficiencies of the current energy source from B.C. Hydro. This project and IESVic’s recommendations will help provide more rationale which we can take to the Department of Indian Affairs.”

Founded in 1989, IESVic is a leader in the promotion and development of creative energy alternatives through original research. With a successful track record in research collaboration, IESVic works with industrial partners across Canada and globally on all aspects of sustainable energy systems.

IESVic’s areas of expertise include fuel cells, cyrofuels, energy systems analysis and energy policy development. For more information visit www.iesvic.uvic.ca/.