In 2023, two of the six diesel engines in downtown Dawson City will reach their end-of-life. The combined capacity of these two engines is 2.5 megawatts.
We will replace the two end-of-life engines with one new 2.5 megawatt diesel engine. The new engine will be installed at our substation in Callison. The four other diesel engines currently located in downtown Dawson City will remain at the downtown diesel plant for now.
Peak demand for electricity in Yukon is expected to grow by 40% in the next 10 years. To meet this demand, we’re:
Maintaining the amount of electricity we can generate today by replacing end-of-life diesel units.
Available at the flip of a switch, diesel ensures Yukoners have reliable electricity service during winter peaks, emergencies and whenever renewable resources aren’t available. The local diesel plant also helps us keep the lights on in Dawson City during maintenance outages taking place elsewhere in the system, and in case of trouble on the transmission line that connects the community to hydro power on the grid.
Projects in our 10-Year Renewable Electricity Plan will help us supply, on average, 97% renewable electricity to Yukoners by 2030.
These projects include:
Installing the new engine at Yukon Energy’s Callison substation offers several benefits to the Dawson City community:
Four diesel engines will remain at our downtown diesel plant after this project is done. Our goal is to eventually move all of the diesel engines out of downtown and into our substation in the Callison industrial area.
When exactly? We can’t say for sure. The timing of that move will depend on when those engines reach the end of their life and when it becomes cost-effective to move them. Moving all the units out to Callison right now would cost too much and put upward pressure on electricity rates – something that we also want to avoid.