Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Meadow Lake Power Station – which will soon be replaced. SaskPower photo
MEADOW LAKE – SaskPower is exploring the potential to build a 55-megawatt (MW) natural gas facility in the Meadow Lake area, replacing an existing power plant that has reached end of life, the Crown corporation said in an Nov. 12 release.
According to SaskPower’s website, the Meadow Lake Power station opened in 1984. At 41 years old, that’s quite long in the tooth for a natural gas-fired power station, whose life expectancies are more typically in the 30 year range.
“SaskPower continues to make significant investments into the provincial power system to ensure reliable and affordable power for customers,” said Jeremy Harrison, Minister Responsible for SaskPower and MLA for Meadow Lake. “Feedback from the public and stakeholders will help to inform the path forward for this project, which if approved would fortify the power system and support future economic growth in Northwest Saskatchewan for years to come.”
Minister of Crown Investments Corp Jeremy Harrison, presenting the Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan on Oct. 20. He is also MLA for Meadow Lake. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
SaskPower has secured two land options near the existing station and will undertake field assessments and public engagement with landowners, Indigenous rightsholders and other stakeholders in the area to help determine the best site. Since some of the specialized equipment takes time to build, SaskPower will begin the procurement process while field assessments are underway.
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“The proposed new station, which will have a greater capacity than the existing Meadow Lake plant, will use Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine (RICE) technology,” said Rupen Pandya, SaskPower president and CEO. “This approach will allow us to construct the facility in less time, and enable it to provide flexible, dispatchable power whenever it is needed.”
The current plan is for three engines working together.
Notably this is a change from the existing simple cycle turbine being used at the current facility, as well as other smaller scale generating stations built over the last 15 years such as Spy Hill. Gas turbines are the usual way natural gas-fired generation is built. However, high demand for such turbines has led to ever-lengthening lead times for turbine orders, and much higher prices. The 370 megawatt natural gas-fired Aspen Power Station currently under construction near Lanigan is anticipated to cost $1.7 billion, more than double the Great Plains Power Station, which opened in December, 2024, which cost $825 million. Those two plants are essentially clones of each other, meaning that in three to four years, the price doubled.
That doubling of cost for gas turbine power plants had a sobering impact on government’s and SaskPower’s plans for power generation, and was a major factor in the decision to refurbish and extend the life of SaskPower’s three coal-fired power stations.
While SaskPower had explored the development of a new transmission line in the area, it was determined that the better option to meet current needs is to replace the existing generation facility, the company said. If the decision is made to proceed, the facility is expected to come online as early as the end of 2029. The existing 41-MW Meadow Lake Power Station would remain available until the new facility is operational, meaning it will have operated for 45 years by that point.
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Power transmission in that region is under serious consideration for eventual expansion. On Oct. 20, Harrison released the Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan. In that, Harrison spoke of connecting the separate and distinct northern grid to the remainder of the province’s southern grid. Initially that would be along the eastern side of the province. But he noted that there are no major transmission lines in the northwest portion of the province. Eventually the plan would be to have a loop, with lines going up both the eastern and western sides of Saskatchewan into the province’s north.
The expansion in capacity will allow the province to build for growth. The aspiration for building the northern power loop will allow for more economic development, not just of mineral resources, but communities as well, as capacity and grid reliability are improved.
Another key consideration is the fact this new power plant will exceed the federal Clean Electricity Regulations 25 megawatt limit and would be subject to those regulations which seek to do away with fossil fuel-powered generation. By pursuing a plant of this scale, this is another instance of Saskatchewan flaunting the CER as they currently stand.
Open houses for the Meadow Lake project are planned for December 2025.
The project webpage can be found at saskpower.com/MeadowLakeGas.
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