Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Crown Investments Corp. Minister Jeremy Harrison at E.B. Campbell Dam on June 10. SaskPower Photo
NIPAWIN – Refurbishing old power generation infrastructure has been highly contentious of late, at least as far as the Saskatchewan NDP are concerned, but SaskPower announced on June 10 it had completed a major refurbishment of the E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station.
That facility was built in the 1960s on the Saskatchewan River northeast of Nipawin. Its capacity of 294 megawatts almost exactly matches that of other large generating stations in Saskatchewan, like coal-fired Shand, or gas-fired Chinook or Moose Jaw (those two are around 370 megawatts in capacity.) However, its ability to reach that capacity is entirely dependent on the volume of water flowing through the Saskatchewan River. E.B. Campbell is Saskatchewan’s largest hydroelectric power station by capacity, roughly 40 megawatts greater in capacity than the Nipawin Dam, built a little further upstream on the same river.
“This refurbishment will allow E.B. Campbell to continue generating power for at least another 50 years, while improving efficiency and reliability,” said Jeremy Harrison, Minister Responsible for SaskPower and Minister of Crown Investments Corporation. “This will allow SaskPower to continue to access up to 294 megawatts (MW) of hydro power at a fraction of the cost of building a new facility.”
According to a release from SaskPower, the $275-million, multi-year project began in 2021 and included upgrades to turbines, generators and intake systems, allowing the station to produce more power from the same amount of water while making the most of existing infrastructure. Building a new hydroelectric facility of the same capacity would cost approximately $4 billion according to current estimates.
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Harrison told Pipeline Online that the efficiency gains from the refurbishment means SaskPower has been able to get a few more megawatts out of the facility now – with 204 megawatts being obtained this week.
Turbine hall of E.B. Campbell Dam on June 10. SaskPower Photo
He said at the event, “Given the massive increase in projected power demand Saskpower is looking at life extensions right across the generating fleet and is not planning on taking operating capacity offline. That includes hydro, coal, and gas. That is in addition to very significant new generation capacity in both baseload and intermittents. The ability for our economy to grow in the future is going to be directly correlated to the amount of power we can generate.
“The fact that we can execute life extensions on existing assets at a fraction of the cost of new construction is a testament to the care and professionalism of generations of SaskPower employees who have worked at these facilities.”
“Investments like the E.B. Campbell refurbishment are an important part of SaskPower’s plan to ensure a reliable power system for the future,” said Rupen Pandya, SaskPower president and CEO. “The project also delivered economic benefits, including approximately $13.7 million in Indigenous and local employment and procurement opportunities.”
E.B. Campbell began operating in 1963. At 294 MW, it is theoretically capable of generating power for up to 250,000 homes.
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Coal fight continues
So while this hydroelectric refurbishment is now complete, the battle continues on the refurbishment of coal. NDP Leader Carla Beck and her SaskPower critic, MLA Aleana Young, will be holding another session on their “Grid and Growth Plan,” this time in Moose Jaw, on June 12. That event will take place at the Moose Jaw’s Grant Hall, from 3-5 p.m.
On Monday, the NDP pulled the health card in the coal debate, saying in their press release, “Leading health experts from across Canada are also calling on Scott Moe and the Sask. Party to abandon its costly and reckless $26-billion coal catastrophe.
“In a letter sent to every member of the Legislative Assembly last week, the coalition members argue, “Yet, while Alberta and Ontario have successfully phased out coal, improving air quality and public health, Saskatchewan is moving backward, investing in refurbishing coal plants to operate until 2050.”
“The letter is signed by representatives of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, the Saskatchewan Public Health Association, the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment, Asthma Canada, the Canadian Lung Association, the Canadian Public Health Association and several other leading health organizations.”
It quoted the letter, stating, “SaskPower had previously invested in planning for the coal phase-out and was prepared to transition to renewable energy. Redirecting the funds required to refurbish coal plants into renewable projects would allow us to power our economy with healthier, more affordable alternatives to coal.”
“We know it’s time to phase out coal — the cost is too high on multiple fronts,” said Jared Clarke, Shadow Minister for the Environment and for Rural & Remote Health.”
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NDP failed to mention
While the NDP have consistently criticized the Saskatchewan Party government with regards to building more renewable power generation, the reality is nearly all of the current wind and solar fleet in Saskatchewan has been built and brought online under that same Saskatchewan Party government, and more is in the works. Those projects have and are being been done with independent power producers, and were not built by SaskPower.
Only two of the current grid scale wind facilities in operation in Saskatchewan right now were built under the previous NDP rule, and none of the solar facilities. The first is the 11 megawatt Cypress Wind Power Facility near Gull Lake, which went online in 2002. The second is the 150 megawatt Centennial Wind Power Facility near Swift Current in 2006. Since then, the remaining seven grid-scale wind facilities and three solar have been built under the current Saskatchewan Party government, by independent power producers. They make up the remaining 656 megawatts of nameplate wind capacity and all 30 megawatts of solar capacity.
Golden South Wind Facility near Assiniboia on Aug. 1, 2022. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
And under the current SaskPower Minister, Jeremy Harrison, whom the NDP have made their primary target in recent months, another wind facility have been announced – Potentia’s 200 megawatt Rose Valley Wind Project, in conjunction with Meadow Lake Tribal Council, as well as a 100 megawatt solar facility to be built near the Poplar River Power Station. Additionally, the Seven Stars wind project near Weyburn is getting close to going ahead, and construction is underway near Estevan on the 100 megawatt Turning Sun solar facility, with its sod turning held last week.
All three of Saskatchewan’s current 10 megawatt grid-scale solar facilities (for a total of 30 megawatts) have been built under the Saskatchewan Party administration.
If the Coronach and Estevan solar facilities are completed, as well as the Rose Valley and Weyburn wind projects, that will bring total nameplate wind capacity to 1,217 megawatts for grid-scale wind, and 230 megawatts for grid-scale solar. A total of 89 per cent of those nameplate megawatts will have been built under Saskatchewan Party administration.
This is the 10 megawatt Pesâkâstêw Solar Facility near Weyburn, which opened last summer. The proposed facility for Estevan will be 10 times the size, and cover up to seven quarters of land.
However, as Pipeline Online has reported numerous times, often that wind and solar can and does go to zero output, thus necessitating the need for backup dispatchable power generation, which until nuclear goes online, means coal and/or natural gas.
As for the NDP’s assertions that rebuilding the coal fleet would cost $26 billion (including the fuel to be consumed by said fleet), Pipeline Online did an analysis their Grid and Growth Plan and found that using the same methodology the NDP used, their plan would see expenditures of $22.6 to $28.2 billion, right in line with the $26 billion the NDP say would be “catastrophic.”
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