Diesel dependency: Ramea mayor anxious to see progress on fuel-saving initiative

Ramea Mayor Clyde Dominie welcomes the day when his isolated island community on Newfoundland's south coastis not so dependent on diesel-powered electricity, but he has no clear idea when that might happen.

A unique experiment is underway in Ramea that hopes to blend wind, hydrogen and diesel together to reduce diesel consumption and provide itsroughly 200 households with cleaner energy.

"I think it would be a great thing for the community and for the environment, obviously," Dominiesaid this week.

Harmful greenhouse gases

The project is being spearheaded by Nalcor Energy as part of a broader effort by the provincial government to reduce fuel usage in communities isolated from the primary power grid.

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There are 21 isolated electrical systems in the province, mostlyalong the Labrador coast and the south coast of Newfoundland.

Up to a few years ago, these systems were consumingas much 15 million litres of diesel every year in communities such asMakkovik,HopedaleandNain, among others.

They're costly and require a heavy subsidy to operate, andspew greenhouse gases into the environment.

The provincial government says it'scommitted to cost-effectively reducing the use of diesel in these off-grid communities, and thegroundbreaking experiment in Ramea could be one of the answers.

Ramea relies on a combination of wind power and diesel generation, but hydrogen is seen as the real key to reducing diesel consumption.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology

In simple terms, the project involves using excess electricity fromwind turbines to create hydrogen during peak wind conditions.

This hydrogen is then stored and used to power special emission-free generatorswhen the winds are low.

Millions have been spent since the project was launched, and it's still very much a work in progress, but Nalcorsaid this unique venture hasreduced diesel consumption in Ramea by more than one million litres since 2010.

Nalcor is now evaluating proposals for Phase 2 of the project, and is evaluating proposals to better store hydrogen, specifically hydrogen fuel cells.

"If you could generate the hydrogen,which is quite clean and reduce the rates, it would be a win-win for the town all the way around," said Dominie.

If it can be perfected, Nalcor hopes to use this technology elsewhere, and perhaps market the system throughout the world.