The government of Saskatchewan will be keeping its coal-generating assets online past the federal 2030 cutoff date for coal power. In a recent letter to SaskPower employees, sent from Jeremy Harrison, Minister of Crown Investments Corporation and Minister Responsible for SaskPower, he outlined the province's reasoning and next steps for coal power in the province.
According to the letter, SaskPower is projecting that power demand will massively increase over the next two decades. The government has decided upon an all-of-the-above approach to meeting the growth in demand.
Their approach will include hundreds of megawatts of new renewable power generation, new natural gas plants, and biomass, along with already existing hydro and other assets. At the same time, the province wants to prioritize that, going forward, power generation will be reliable and affordable, while encouraging energy security.
This led to what they call "a fundamental reconsideration of the future role of coal in our system". With the certainty and security of coal, the province will have a pillar of the electrical generation system as it tracks towards a nuclear future powered by Saskatchewan uranium.
The province says that its coal plants have stayed in "remarkably viable condition given their age", citing that over the past eight years, coal units have averaged an availability of between 78 per cent and 87 per cent. In comparison, intermittent renewable generation assets typically produce energy to their full potential between 19 to 31 per cent of the time.
While the province states that renewables will remain a part of their grid, it is not a substitute for baseload generation.
While the federal government may try to shut down the coal plants if they run past the 2030 date, the province maintains that "the federal government has no standing in this discussion, " citing the Constitution's Section 92A, which gives provinces exclusive authority to make laws in relation to the development, conservation and management of sites and facilities for the generation and production of electrical energy.
The province has also maintained that it does not recognize the legitimacy of the federal Clean Electricity Regulations, saying that the Saskatchewan First Act Tribunal found it could cost the province $7.1 billion in economic growth, 4,200 jobs, and an $8.1 billion negative effect on Saskatchewan's exports.
The Government of Saskatchewan maintains that they have a commitment to reach a net-zero grid by 2050. They point to their work on adopting SMR technology and their carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies at Boundary Dam 3, which has sequestered nearly seven million tonnes of CО2.
SaskPower will also be life-extending up to approximately 1500 MW of coal assets while investigating the viability of additional carbon capture and storage. Saskatchewan points to other jurisdictions around the world doing the same, such as China.
The Government of Saskatchewan says other announcements will be coming in due course, focused on their principles of reliability, affordability, and energy security. They list off-grid enhancements, new generation projects, and significant investments in SaskPower's future as possible future projects.
The province states that work will begin this year to restore Boundary Dam 4 to service and be re-certified. Further investments will also be made in long-lead items as part of the life extension project. In the years to come, the province will commit to life-extending work for all the coal units at the Boundary Dam, Poplar River, and Shand Power Stations.