Saskatchewan government plans to extend life of coal plants: Harrison

Article content

Saskatchewan’s government is planning to extend the life of the province’s coal plants before moving to nuclear power generation, says a letter from the Crown Investments Corporation Minister.

Article content

Jeremy Harrison wrote to SaskPower employees Wednesday that the decision will maintain jobs and meet growing demand, while keeping electricity affordable and reliable.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Harrison did not provide details on the costs of the plan or timelines, but wrote the province will explore the viability of adding carbon capture units.

Article content

Article content

“SaskPower will be life extending up to approximately 1500 MW of coal assets,” he wrote. “Other jurisdictions around the world are refurbishing coal plants that are many times that size.”

Article content

The province already operates a carbon capture unit at the Boundary Dam Power Station, which has sometimes struggled to meet emissions reduction targets.

Article content

SaskPower, the province’s electrical utility, operates three coal-fired plants and some units were scheduled to go offline in the coming years.

Article content

“I know that the hard-working teams in these facilities have been subject to considerable uncertainty,” Harrison wrote.

Article content

“Saskatchewan people own our coal resource, which we are blessed with in enormous quantities. The certainty and security of coal means that it will continue as a pillar of our electrical generation system as we bridge to a nuclear future powered by Saskatchewan uranium.”

Article content

Article content

SaskPower is planning to build a small modular nuclear reactor by the mid-2030s. The Crown corporation is studying the Estevan area, southeast of Regina, for a potential site to build the plant.

Article content

In 2019, Saskatchewan signed a deal with Ottawa recognizing some coal units could run beyond the phaseout deadline of 2030.

Article content

Harrison argued Saskatchewan has constitutional authority over electricity generation.

Article content

“We have also been clear that we do not recognize the legitimacy of the federal clean electricity regulations,” he said.

Article content

The regulations aim to limit emissions from provinces’ electricity grids. A tribunal struck by Saskatchewan found the rules would cost the province billions of dollars in economic growth and result in job losses.

Article content

The federal environment ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Article content

Harrison wrote Saskatchewan still plans to meet net-zero targets by 2050. Wind and solar energy are also part of the province’s electricity mix, he added.