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SaskPower’s Great Plains Power Station, which began construction just outside Moose Jaw in March of 2021, is now officially complete and supplying 370 megawatts to Saskatchewan’s power grid.
The power plant’s completion was marked with an onsite ribbon-cutting on Tuesday, and the unveiling of a specially commissioned painting by Moose Jaw artist Patti Lewis, titled Powering the Prairies.
Artist Patti Lewis helps unveil her specially commissioned painting 'Powering the Prairies' at the Great Plains Power Station official dedication Dec. 2024
The ceremony was attended by many dignitaries, including Mayor James Murdock and members of Moose Jaw City Council, MLAs Tim McLeod and Megan Patterson, SaskPower president and CEO Rupen Pandya, Elder Larry Oakes from Nekaneet Cree First Nation, project manager Ken Wakelam, director of southern Natural Gas generation Curtis Granger, and Darcy Wagner, manager director of Burns & McDonnell Canada.
“This is an exciting day for Moose Jaw,” Mayor Murdock said. “Almost four-and-a-half years in the making, and to think, last evening at 9:30 it was officially turned over to Great Plains and SaskPower. It was a really nice feeling driving out here this morning and seeing the vapour going straight up.
“As they stated during the announcement and the ribbon-cutting, that’s 25 full-time jobs as a result of this project. And over the years of its construction, too, at peak times there were over 600 workers out here, and the spin-offs for Moose Jaw’s economy were just tremendous. This is going to be a great partnership with the city for decades to come.”
Seventy per cent of workers on the project were from Saskatchewan, including 13 per cent from Moose Jaw. More than 300 Saskatchewan companies contributed to building the combined-cycle natural gas-fired station.
Construction included the following:
- 11,200 cubic meters of concrete
- 3,400 metric tonnes of steel
- 20,000+ metres of pipe
- 200,000 metres of cable
A control room worker supervises operation of the plant's combined-cycle natural gas and steam generator turbines (photo by Gordon Edgar)
Tim McLeod, minister of justice and attorney general, said the plant represents a step forward in the province’s development of a sustainable, clean power grid. SaskPower will continue adding thousands of megawatts of solar and wind power to our power grid, McLeod noted, but those renewable sources of energy need a reliable baseline to back them up, and natural gas power plants will provide that reliable baseline for decades.
Burns & McDonnell were the engineering, procurement, and construction partner on the project. B&M CEO Leslie Duke said they were proud to partner with SaskPower.
“The Great Plains Power Station is designed to optimize power output, enhance energy efficiency, and significantly reduce emissions, contributing to a cleaner and reliable energy system.”
Before the ceremony, media were led on a complete tour of the fully operational power plant by project manager Ken Wakelam. Although he had notes, Wakelam recited almost all of the plant’s specifications from memory.
Project manager Ken Wakelam leads a media tour at the Great Plains Power Station official dedication Dec. 2024 (photos by Gordon Edgar)
“We’re very, very proud to have the facility complete,” Wakelam said. “There were many problems to work through on a day-to-day basis, so to get to this phase of the project, where it’s turned over to operations staff and operating reliably, it’s just a huge sense of relief and a huge sense of accomplishment.”
Rupen Pandya acknowledged everyone who had worked on the plant, especially congratulating workers on a site safety culture that resulted in zero days lost to injury.
“The demand for power will continue to rise as electrification increases and the economy grows,” Pandya said. “Natural gas generation provides a reliable 24/7 power supply that will enable us to meet this challenge.”