During the past year, SaskPower made significant strides toward improving reliability and slashing greenhouse gas emissions, while continuing to provide cost-effective power for customers.

The Crown Corporation completed record levels of capital sustainment work to increase reliability, boosted by a $50-million grant from the Provincial Government. The estimated $272-million investment includes transmission line upgrades, rural line rebuilds, underground line replacements, wood pole replacements and more.

“Reliable electricity is crucial to our quality of life and to the strength of our economy as we continue to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Don Morgan, Minister Responsible for SaskPower. “With three months remaining in the fiscal year SaskPower has already exceeded its five-year average spend, and customers can expect improved reliability in the years to come.”

SaskPower also made significant progress in adding more renewable power to the grid, with 400 megawatts of wind and solar scheduled to be online by the end of this fiscal year. These projects include the Golden South and Blue Hill wind facilities, the Pesâkâstêw and Awasis solar facilities, and the Meadow Lake Tribal Council’s Bioenergy Centre. Construction will also soon begin on SaskPower’s first battery energy storage facility.

“In 2021, SaskPower announced that we will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, which exceeds the commitment we made in 2015 to reduce emissions by 40 per cent. Beyond that, we are targeting net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Troy King, Interim President and CEO of SaskPower. “We will get there by continuing to invest in renewables and evaluating the full range of low- or zero-emissions power sources available, including expanded imports and nuclear power from small modular reactors.”

Other highlights for 2021 included:

• Continued work on the Great Plains Power Station in Moose Jaw, which has already generated more than $30 million in local and Indigenous procurement opportunities.
• Commencement of construction of phase 1 of the Logistics Warehouse Complex in Regina.
• The announcement of mass deployment of smart meters to customers, set to begin in early 2022.
• Continued work to refurbish two hydro generation facilities, E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station and Coteau Creek Power Station.
• SaskPower’s re-certification with the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business’s PAR Gold Status.
• All-time peak load demand records were set on December 29 and December 30 at 3,868 megawatts (MW) and 3,910 MW respectively.

More information on all of the above can be found at saskpower.com/projects. A gallery of photos of SaskPower’s ongoing renewable projects can be found at Renewables | Flickr.

At a glance...

• SaskPower is on track to make a $272-million investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure in 2021-22
• More than 400 MW of renewable generation is expected to come online before the end of the fiscal year
• More information can be found at saskpower.com/projects