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BD3 project readied for launch

As SaskPower administration and employees work diligently toward the Oct.


As SaskPower administration and employees work diligently toward the Oct. 2 official launch of the Boundary Dam Unit 3 carbon capture unit, the world's first ground breaking commercial-sized vehicle for capturing carbon dioxide and other noxious gases, they are also taking other steps to move the corporation forward.

With the new federal regulations on coal-fired plants now less than a year away, Units 1 and 2 at Boundary Dam, have been shut down and decommissioned. The smaller, older units were just not going to fit into the new world order, either environmentally or economically, whereas Units 3 to 6 at Boundary Dam, will.

The retirement of the No. 2 unit, a few months after the closure of No. 1, aligns SaskPower with the federal carbon dioxide regulations announced in 2012, which will take effect in July of 2015.

Units 1 and 2 were over 50 years old. While eliminating less than 150 megawatts of power from the provincial grid, the action also removes 700,000 tonnes of CO2 from the environment, the equivalent of taking 175,000 vehicles off Saskatchewan highways.

The removal of this modest amount of power with the shutdown of Boundary Dam's two oldest generators will not place SaskPower in any jeopardy with regards to electrical power supply this fall and winter.

SaskPower's president and CEO, Robert Watson, noted that with Unit 3 back on stream at Boundary Dam this winter and with a relatively new natural gas powered generating station on stream in North Battleford, there is more than an ample supply to carry on the business of powering the provincial businesses and homes. There are also plans to purchase hydro-generated power supplies from Manitoba this fall and winter and there has been an expansion project completed at the Queen Elizabeth Station in Saskatoon, which is also a gas-fired plant. There are additional megawatts being added to the provincial electrical grid system with new wind turbine power sources now on stream or coming on stream within the next several years.

The Manitoba deal provides SaskPower with up to 25 megawatts of power from Nov. 2015 to May 2022. The pact, which could be valued at $100 million at maximum usage, will assure SaskPower of a reliable, affordable and sustainable backup power supply said Watson.

"Although Manitoba Hydro regularly exports electricity to Saskatchewan, this 25-megawatt deal represents the first long-term firm sale between the two provinces in recent memory," said Scott Thomson, president and CEO of Manitoba Hydro. Manitoba's 15 hydro electric plants also produce power for Midwestern states in the U.S.

The power from Manitoba will be delivered using an already existing transmission connection between the two utilities.