The Inuit of Nunavut’s Kivalliq Region have big dreams for joining the clean economy via a 1,200-kilometre hydro and fibre optic line that would be the territory’s first infrastructure link to southern Canada.

The estimated $3-billion project has been years in the making, and under the aggressive timelines of the Inuit-owned Nukik Corporation, it could begin delivering clean, reliable, baseload electricity to five communities and several mines by 2030.

The challenges are formidable: a capital-intensive project that depends on uncertain electricity supply to be built over an environmentally sensitive landscape.

However, the benefits would be massive, says David Kakuktinniq, the president of both Nukik and parent company Sakku Investments Corp., the economic development arm of the Kivalliq Inuit Association.

The transmission line would greatly reduce five communities’ reliance on dirty and expensive diesel while bringing revenues to the Inuit corporations charged with economic development. It would also provide the reliable internet connection that is essential in a modern economy.

Proposed Nunavut hydro line to reduce reliance on dirty diesel