SaskPower is looking back on its accomplishments from the past year, saying it continued to invest in modernizing and growing Saskatchewan’s electricity system.
“This year, SaskPower has made major capital investments to keep bringing a safe and reliable supply of power to our province’s homes, farms and businesses, while also making significant headway in the transition to cleaner generation sources,” said SaskPower president and CEO Mike Marsh. “We make these investments strategically to ensure we can continue to exceed industry standard reliability while keeping rates as low as possible for our customers.”
In 2018, SaskPower continued to make progress in executing a number of capital projects, including:
•The $680.5 million natural gas-fired Chinook Power Station near Swift Current is on-budget and on-track for commissioning in fall 2019. Local suppliers have been awarded approximately $120 million in contracts.
•SaskPower started construction on two new transmission lines to bring power from the Chinook Power Station to customers across the province. Combined, these lines will cost an estimated $240 million and span about 205 kilometres.
•The Crown corporation signed a power purchase agreement with Potentia Renewables that will see development of a 200-megawatt wind power facility that will produce enough renewable electricity for about 90,000 homes.
•SaskPower continued work to extend the life of the E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station near Nipawin. This work will ensure the company can continue operating this renewable source of hydro generation for another 50 years. The total cost for this project is an estimated $300 million.
•Concrete refurbishment work at Island Falls Hydroelectric Station will sustain the life of another existing renewable generation source. This multi-year project will be complete in 2021 at an estimated cost of $45 million.
•The transmission wood pole replacement program and distribution wood pole remediation program will help minimize outages caused by storms, particularly for rural customers. An estimated 112,000 wood power poles were inspected in 2018.
•An underground cable injection program will extend the life of underground lines by up to 25 years, meaning more reliable service for customers.
SaskPower said it contributes about $1.8 billion to Saskatchewan’s economy each year, with an estimated $1.4 billion in payments to Saskatchewan suppliers and independent power producers, $400 million in salaries and benefits.
