The Canada Infrastructure Bank announced Sept. 9 that its $20-million project loan to Kitikmeot Tugliq Limited Partnership has reached financial close. The partnership is described as Inuit-led and involving the Kitikmeot Inuit Association and Tugliq Energy. The proposed system beside the Hope Bay mine includes a 4.2-megawatt wind turbine and a four-megawatt battery energy-storage system. Source↗

This is a new financing milestone for a project connected to Hope Bay’s mine redevelopment, which Atiilu News Desk covered separately. The Canada Infrastructure Bank says the system will sell power to Agnico Eagle under a long-term power-purchase agreement. It estimates the project could cut diesel use by up to three million litres a year, create up to 15 jobs during peak construction and provide longer-term benefits through a profit-sharing model. Those are project expectations, not completed results. Source↗

The announcement does not give a construction-completion or power-production date. Reporting should seek the loan terms, power-purchase agreement, ownership and profit-sharing details, construction schedule, permits and planned employment or training commitments from Kitikmeot Tugliq Limited Partnership, the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, Tugliq Energy and Agnico Eagle.

Natural Resources Canada announced a separate $25-million contribution to the same project on May 19. Federal records describe the project as adding 4.2 megawatts of wind generation and four megawatts of battery storage to Hope Bay’s existing power system. The Sept. 9 announcement confirms loan financial close; it does not confirm that the system is operating. Source↗