Electrical intertie announcement indicates Saskatchewan will be building large reactors, and powering MB and SK

 

YELLOWKNIFE – Major developments for Canada’s electrical grid are lining up to have profound implications for Saskatchewan, with all signs indicating not only is this province going to be building nuclear reactors, but large ones, and they will likely be powering not only this province, but our neighbours. Manitoba, which has for decades been a large-scale exporter of power, will likely become Saskatchewan’s customer.

Following discussions at the Energy and Mines Minister’s Conference (EMMC) in Yellowknife, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson, announced that the federal government will prioritize financial and regulatory support for the following transmission projects:

• The British Columbia–Yukon Grid Connect
  • The project is an approximately 800-km, +200-kV, high-voltage, direct current transmission line connecting Yukon’s grid to British Columbia. The project would support industrial and economic development in Yukon, including the critical minerals sector. It has been supported by a $40-million investment from Natural Resources Canada.
• Restoring capability on the Alberta–British Columbia intertie
  • Restoring the Alberta–British Columbia intertie will increase electricity trade capacity by ~150 MW between the two provinces, enhancing reliability and affordability for British Columbians and Albertans.
• Upgrading the Alberta–Saskatchewan intertie
  • This project involves replacing and enhancing the McNeill converter station near Medicine Hat with updated technology to increase the existing intertie’s trade capacity by ~250 MW and extend its lifespan.
• The Saskatchewan–Manitoba intertie expansion
  • The scalable project would expand that intertie’s transfer capability by up to two gigawatts along the Regina–Winnipeg Corridor, significantly enhancing the energy partnership between the two provinces.
• The Prince Edward Island–New Brunswick Interconnection Expansion Project
  • The proposed project includes new sub-sea cables connecting PEI and New Brunswick while also reinforcing the transmission system linking Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI. The project would enhance regional system reliability and trade in the Maritimes.

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Through the EMMC, the National Electricity Strategy, the Transmission InterConnect Investment Strategy, and other work being advanced, the Government of Canada is also:

• Moving forward with support for electricity projects, including interties, via the Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit, the Canada Infrastructure Bank, and NRCan’s Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways program.
• Implementing a Federal-Provincial-Territorial Framework on Interties, as supported by Ministers at EMMC 2026. The Framework will establish collaborative mechanisms to support regional system planning and co-ordination and develop a standard cost allocation mechanism to guide and arbitrate costs among project participants, including the federal government.
• Examining federal supports, including targeted investments for infrastructure, energy planning and deployment of made-in-Canada technologies, such as advanced grid controls and digitalization, that contribute to reliability and affordability in the North.

Intertie projects will make Canada’s electricity system more reliable, affordable, and sovereign. The federal government is committed to partnering with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities and utilities to build a connected, secure, affordable energy system for Canadians across the country.

 

Hodgson said, ““It’s simple: intertie projects build Canada Strong. Our government has moved assertively to build one economy out of thirteen and give ourselves more than anyone else can take away, and the electricity grid is an obvious next step. By working together, we can ensure every Canadian from coast to coast to coast can rely on secure, homegrown electricity to support our national security, economic growth and a sustainable, affordable future.”

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Saskatchewan reaction

In an emailed statement, Saskatchewan Minister of Crown Investments Corporation and Minister Responsible for SaskPower Jeremy Harrison said, “Today’s announcement on electricity transmission, together with the federal government’s recent commitment to advancing nuclear energy, is welcome news. It reflects the approach Saskatchewan has been calling for – one that recognizes Canada has the opportunity to become an energy superpower, with Saskatchewan at its centre as an export powerhouse.

“This is exactly the vision set out in Saskatchewan’s Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan as well as our Transmission Outlook. Nuclear generation and expanded transmission go hand in hand.

“Together, they will allow Saskatchewan not only to power our own growing economy, but to export reliable electricity across Western Canada, strengthen Canada’s energy security, and unlock billions in new investment and economic growth.

“Saskatchewan has a clear plan, and we’re already delivering on it. We look forward to working with our federal and provincial partners to build the infrastructure that will connect Canadians, strengthen our electricity system, support the deployment of nuclear energy, and create lasting economic opportunities for Saskatchewan and Canada.”

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NDP Shadow Minister for Jobs and the Economy and SaskPower critic Aleana Young posted on LinkedIn, “Federal investment in interprovincial interties is very welcome news and a key pillar of our Grid and Growth Plan. Over the years, we have advocated for this investment to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Energy Minister Tim Hodgson. Funding must accompany this announcement — Saskatchewan can be at the center of growing Canada’s energy future.

“To capitalize on this opportunity, Saskatchewan must have affordable, reliable, and flexible power. That means building out natural gas and renewables now and carving a path for nuclear. The Sask. Party’s unjustified $26-billion coal plan will double bills and build the costliest, highest risk, and highest intensity system in Canada.

“The Sask. Party’s plan will set us up to be a flow through province, an importer, and supplier of last resort. The future is about reliability, capacity, and strategic industrial power.

“Our Grid and Growth plan champions stronger interties, building the power customers want, and rebuilding relationships with our neighbours for today, and the shared opportunities of the future. Jurisdictions with abundant, reliable, flexible electricity are going to win investment. These interties are essential to growing Saskatchewan’s grid and setting Western Canada, and the country, up to be an energy and nuclear superpower.

“This is a major announcement that can shape the next generation of Canadian energy infrastructure and growth. Saskatchewan must benefit from the jobs, growth and strategic investment that comes with it.

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Analysis: What this means for Saskatchewan

So what does this actually mean for Saskatchewan?

First off, the two interties east and west are, combined, by far the most significant announced in this plan, totalling 2,250 megawatts. What really stands out is the two gigawatt, or 2,000 megawatt expansion “along the Regina–Winnipeg Corridor.”

.So where could an additional 2,000 megawatts come from? Saskatchewan will soon have an total 1,417 megawatts of wind capacity and 230 megawatts of solar. While the intertie may assist with exporting surplus renewables, the likelihood of 2,000 megawatts being needed for that is low.

However, that number pretty much exactly jives with two 1,000-megawatt scale reactors, either CANDU Monarks or Westinghouse AP1000s. And the chosen first site for nuclear power generation in Saskatchewan will be near Estevan, not terribly far off that Regina-Winnipeg corridor.

 

And 2,000 megawatts of intertie capacity would not be necessary to deal with two or even four GE Vernova-Hitach BWRX-300 small modular reactors, each with approximately 300 megawatts in capacity. Two thousand megawatts would be needed for six SMRs, two more than Ontario Power Generation is building at the Darlington New Nuclear project.

When asked about these nuclear developments on the Evan Bray Show on June 24, Premier Scott Moe told Bray, “I’d say Saskatchewan has a pretty straightforward path as we utilize our existing resources, run them to end of life (referring to the coal fleet), and then bring in what will likely and increasingly look like large scale reactors in the province to have a nuclear future, which is low carbon, but we have to work to ensure that it’s as affordable as possible.”

Thus, when you add up the scale of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan intertie expansion announced on June 26, combined with size of large reactors and Moe’s comments, and add that up with the June 22 announcement the federal government is seeking to have 10 reactors built across the country, it is increasingly looking like Saskatchewan might punt on SMRs and go straight to large-scale 1,000 megawatt reactors.

This, in turn, could push back the planned start date for construction a few years as licensing and planning shift gears to large reactors. But the end result would be two reactors with three to four times the capacity of SMRs, and a much larger expenditure, more jobs, and more impact. In other words, it may take a bit longer, but the prize would be much, much larger for southeast Saskatchewan and the province as a whole.

Larger interties also have a side benefit of helping stabilize frequency variations, acting like a shock absorber to the grid when problems like units tripping out.

On the other side of the province, “replacing and enhancing the McNeill converter station” will go a long way to enhancing its reliability. The rather rare station has had frequent and often months-long outages. It’s rare because Saskatchewan and Alberta are on opposite sides of the an invisible wall that runs down the western third of the continent. Each province belongs to a different major grid interconnect. Both interconnects are running on a precises 60.0 Hz frequency, but the two interconnects are out of phase with each other. Thus, to send power across the border, it must be converted from AC to DC and back to AC, matching the phase on the other side of the border.

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While 150 megawatts was a significant amount of power decades ago, these days its not a heck of a lot. Expansion to 400 megawatts of capacity will allow some of that nuclear power to be sent west, but more likely it will allow for greater exchanges of renewable power between the two provinces. When Alberta has surplus wind power, the excess often craters prices in that province’s open electrical market to zero. And when wind power craters in output, prices often soar to at or near the maximum $999.99 per megawatt-hour limit. Saskatchewan frequently is a winner in both situations – buying “free” power and selling top-price power. Thus an expansion will likely greatly benefit this province, as well as Alberta.

“Doubling the grid” is impossible without massive expansion of interties between provinces.

Other considerations:

If carried out, these collective projects will go a long way to creating a “national energy corridor.” The Regina to Winnipeg corridor already hosts the TC Energy Mainline and much of the Enbridge mainline. While they spread out across a rather wide path, you add in some power pylons and you have something of an energy corridor.

One aspect of the Saskatchewan NDP’s Grid and Growth Plan is the building of a 500 kilovolt transmission line backbone, a triangle from Saskatoon to Regina to southeast Alberta. While perhaps the Regina to Alberta portion might fit this national plan, the more significant aspect is the prospects of a 500 kilovolt transmission system -double the current 230 kilovolts used for Saskatchewan’s major transmission lines. The first lessons regarding electricity are about Ohm’s Law. And it states that if you double to voltage, you reduced the line loss by half. There’s no way you would want to move up to 2,000 megawatts of power without doing everything you can to minimize line loss. While high voltage DC is a possibility, that’s generally more suited for only sending power one direction. So the NDP’s plan to beef up our electrical backbone to 500 kilovolts, albeit in a different area, is a reflection of clear necessity. If Saskatchewan and Manitoba are going to do this, they’re going to need it.

And that means Interpro will be in a prime position to provide the pylons for this new line.

“Doubling the grid” won’t be easy or cheap, but these steps are critical to making it happen.

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