Microgrid
ProjectsSubmit a project

Home / Directory / Hartley Bay Microgrid

North America / Commercial & demonstration

Hartley Bay Microgrid

Organizations, planners, suppliers, equipment, controls, and reported system specifications—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations5
System facts19
Sources reviewed4
Last researched2026-07-19

Hartley Bay was Canada's first smart remote microgrid demonstration, adding demand-response controls and feeder instrumentation to the Gitga'at Nation's diesel system. Government technical papers document the generator sizes, 600 V-to-25 kV distribution architecture, controllable building loads, and project collaborators in substantially more detail than the recovered directory.

Research status
Smart remote microgrid demonstration commissioned; cited 2012–2013 reports do not establish the current control configuration
Historical classification
Community
Reported capacity
3,900 kW
Coordinates
53.42392, -129.25351
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Hartley Bay Microgrid?

5 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada

Federal project collaborator [3]

Organization

Gitga'at First Nation

Community host and local system stakeholder [2][3]

Organization

Government of British Columbia

Project collaborator [3]

Organization

Natural Resources Canada CanmetENERGY

Project lead, research, and technical integration [2][3]

Organization

Pulse Energy

Energy-management and load-control technology collaborator [2][3]

System evidence

Reported capacity and specifications

Values can describe different project phases or components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Gas/Diesel
3000 [1]
KW Hydro
900 [1]
Storage
N/A [1]
Diesel generation
Two 420 kW gensets plus one 210 kW genset (1.05 MW total) [3]
Primary generator bus
600 V [3]
Community distribution
Approximately 2 km at 25 kV, stepped down to 120/240/208 V [3]
Distribution transformers
25 kVA and 50 kVA units [3]
Community scale
Approximately 170 residents and 82 buildings in the project report [3]
Annual electricity consumption
Approximately 2 GWh [3]
Controllable winter load
Approximately 20% of winter peak [3]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Load controllers

Model not publicly disclosed

Networked controllers and adjustable 30 A thermostats were deployed at the school, health clinic, and community centre; commercial model numbers are not disclosed. [3]

02

Energy-management system

Pulse Energy

Monitoring and load-management system added or removed controllable loads according to a system-efficiency algorithm. [3]

03

Distribution system

Model not publicly disclosed

600 V generation, step-up to 25 kV community distribution, and building-level step-down service. Transformer and genset manufacturers are not named. [3]

Recovered detail

Additional technical notes

Concise system facts recovered from the historical project record. Treat these as historical unless a newer primary source confirms them.

  • Management

    It has been able to reduce the maximum demand (61.3 kW) by 15%. [1]

  • Management

    The microgrid project has been estimated saving around 77,000 L of diesel per year . [1]

  • Demand response

    The controller shifted thermostatically controlled building loads according to generator efficiency and available system margin rather than using battery storage. [3]

  • Reported result

    The recovered project page reported a 61.3 kW peak reduction and about 77,000 litres of annual diesel savings; these remain archive-sourced figures. [1]

  • Source reconciliation

    The government paper documents 1.05 MW of installed diesel generation; the recovered directory's 3 MW figure is retained separately and should not be treated as the same verified configuration. [3][1]

  • Hydro status

    The reviewed smart-microgrid papers do not document an operating 900 kW hydro plant, so the recovered hydro value is not presented as installed equipment. [3][1]

Provenance

4 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    First Canadian Smart Remote Microgrid: Hartley Bay, BC

    Natural Resources Canada · Primary source

  3. [3]
    The First Canadian Smart Remote Microgrid: Hartley Bay, BC

    Natural Resources Canada CanmetENERGY · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Hartley Bay Smart Microgrid technical report

    Natural Resources Canada CanmetENERGY · Primary source

Continue exploring

Related projects in North America