Moe says Estevan will be site of SMRs, continuity of workforce key to keeping current power plants running

 

ESTEVAN – On the occasion of the Estevan Chamber of Commerce’ 120^th anniversary banquet, Premier Scott Moe delivered news that could secure the future of the Energy City for many more decades to come.

While the final decision to go ahead cannot be officially announced until federal licenses are in place, Moe told the Chamber that the first reactors would go to Estevan, either at Boundary Dam or Rafferty Reservoirs.

And he also spoke about the possibility of continuing to run the two local power stations, Boundary Dam and Shand, until those reactors are online. That could involve conversion to natural gas, or possibly continuing on coal, despite current federal regulations that require conventional coal-fired generation to shut down by 2030.

Moe said, “Up until today, SaskPower has been focused on really two regions on where they could locate an SMR. As of tomorrow morning, when a news release comes out from SaskPower, but I’ll let you in on it this evening, that’s going to be one region. And it’s going to be the community of Estevan where SaskPower is going to be looking to locate their first SMR, should they go down a nuclear path. And we don’t have a lot of other options. And so that’s the path we’re most certainly looking at.

“This will create a significant number of jobs, in the way, first, in construction of an SMR, and a number of long term operational jobs at the plant over the period of the next number of decades.

“There are going to be two locations here of which I think SaskPower will be engaging with local leadership, both at the RM level and at the community level. One’s at Boundary Dam, one’s at the Rafferty Reservoir. They’re going to consult on which, and further do some testing, on which of those locations will work. And they’ll be looking at those locations.

 

“As I said, we’ve selected the site for our first SMR build, should we be building nuclear facilities, which we don’t have a number of other options. But they’re going to be ensuring that that site is capable of more than one.”

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Keeping workers working

He also focused on “workforce continuity.” One of the key issues facing Estevan has been the impending federally-imposed mandate that coal-fired power that is not equipped with carbon capture technology be shut down by 2030. But the earliest SaskPower expects to have its first 300 megawatt small modular reactor online would be 2034. Shutting down the remaining coal plants leave SaskPower in a major power generation shortfall (some days last winter coal provided up to ~42 per cent of total power generation). It would also mean hundreds of skilled workers, currently operating the two power plants, would be out of a job for several years before there’s even a possibility of them starting work, operating new nuclear reactor. And that assumes the reactor(s) end up built on time, a rarity in nuclear builds. Such a course of action could see those power plant staff scatter to the winds, only to have SaskPower need those very same skills a few years later.

Moe said cost is an issue, but a key issue is “Workforce continuity.”

 

He said, “If you look at the federal plan, right now, it’s a coal-fired power until 2030, at which time you turn that off, you’ve converted, I suppose to natural gas, run that. We’re looking at potentially bringing on our first SMR, about 2034. And then multiple SMRs, potentially, in the years after that. So, you would have that gap on workforce continuity between 2030 and 2034. That’s why we have had conversations like, you know, our coal fired plants here in Estevan are actually their end of life is 2038, 2042, a number of them. If we’re able to actually run those plants out for beyond 2030, think of the much more structured way that we’re actually able to train our workforce that may be working in a coal-fired facility today, and actually transition that training through. And those very same people that are part of your community and have lived here all their life into skilled professionals that would then work in a nuclear facility in the future.

“And so that’s the discussion that we’re going to continue to have with the federal government is we want to ensure that however this move from overtime, likely from coal to nuclear, unless there’s another option that comes along through Harry Potter’s strike of his wand or something, one of the priorities that we have is, you know, how are we going to seamlessly transition the workforce here in Estevan.”

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Estevan has been under a cloud of uncertainty since 2018, when SaskPower announced it would not be pursuing carbon capture on Boundary Dam Units 4 and 5, and since then has not indicated it would build it on any of the other remaining coal units. Without more carbon capture, and a federal government seeking to end conventional coal-fired power, the future was increasingly looking grim for both the coal miners and SaskPower power plant workers. On top of that, all the other businesses in the Estevan economy that rely on power generation, from machine shops to crane operators, were facing a dire future.

Moe referred to this, saying, “And so I just wanted to broach that in the era of always trying to be as transparent as possible in a community where there’s a number of regulatory changes in this space that, you know, have a great impact on this community.”

Speaking to reporters after his speech, Moe said Estevan was chosen over Elbow for several reasons, including the over 1000 megawatts of transmission capacity from the region, and continuity of the workforce.

 

“At least two”

He said SaskPower would be looking at the two possible locations, on Rafferty and Boundary Dam Reservoirs, “not with an eye to build one reactor, but with an eye to build at least two.”

 

With reference to the possible conversion of Boundary Dam and Shand from coal to natural gas, either before or after 2030, Moe said, “Well, I think later actually makes sense. Now, it doesn’t make sense by the federal regulations that say that the coal plants need to come offline by 2030. But when you look at a workforce continuity initiative, to take them off in 2030, and bring potentially our first nuclear reactor on 2034, to convert them the gas for those years, you have a gap in your workforce continuity. Whereas if we’re able to just run the coal-fired power for that period of time, workforce continuity really starts to look like a lot more organized, we’re able to work with our Southeast Regional College, for example, and training some of the folks that will need maybe not just for construction, but even for operation of the new facility. And so, you know, the conversations, I think around whether we will convert to gas and 2030 or try to ask, you know, work with the federal government in the interest of that workforce continuity piece, which is an asset in this in this space, and in this in this community and for this province in, in the work that we’re doing in, as our coal fired plants entered into the end of their life and replacing them with quite lengthy looks like nuclear facilities.”

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Carbon tax implications?

Asked if a new federal government removes the carbon tax, how would this be affected, Moe said, “Well, they there’s a number of layered policies that the current federal government has that impact this decision. You know, one is yes, the ever-increasing carbon taxation. Two is the coal fired phase-out regulations that they have were saying that coal needs to be done by 2030.

“But I would say that that is really all secondary, in the decisions that at least the provincial government is making. You know, as we attract investment, whether it be in the mining industry, the Ag value added industries in the oil industry, pipeline industry, they’re asking the question: ‘What’s the what’s the emissions profile of your electrical generation today? And what’s it going to be in the next 5, 10 and 15 years?’ Because, you know, the folks that are investing with them are asking the very same question.

“And so it’s our goal to really provide a reliable power source to Saskatchewan people and the industries, to provide an affordable power source to Saskatchewan people and industries. And one of the opportunities that we have to do, in a very structured way, to ensure that we have workforce continuity and a community like Estevan, is to make that move from coal as our assets time, their way up to 50 years of life, quite likely to nuclear, which is not a decision that has been confirmed yet, but quite likely to nuclear because there just aren’t a lot of other options. That is an opportunity for us all.”

Asked if there might be three or even four reactors at Estevan, Moe said, “Well, I think we will walk before we run. But, you know, we have significant megawatts of coal in this area. We have significant megawatts of transmission capacity in this area, and we’re looking to use them.”

When Boundary Dam was still operating all six units, it, combined with Shand, totalled nearly 1,200 megawatts of generation capacity, and the transmission grid was built to handle that. That’s the equivalent of four of the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 reactors, the model SaskPower intends on building.

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Estevan MLA

Estevan MLA and Minister of Highways said, “I think this is fantastic news for Estevan, it will help give us some more certainty on what our future might look like here. Being able to have that certainty that we’re going to have power protection for years to come is just nothing but absolutely great news.”

As for the possibility of running coal beyond 2030, until nuclear reactors are in service, allowing a continuity in workforce, Carr said, “That’s absolutely 100 per cent true. Having continuity in the workforce is paramount. Being able to, I guess, have them look at a future, and be able to transition and train as they’re still working in existing facilities, is going to be really important to ensure success in the future. And we have all those trained people here already. We just need to retool them a little bit.”

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RM of Estevan

The RM of Estevan is the likely location for the proposed reactors. RM Reeve Jason LeBlanc said, “Well, we’re pretty excited about it. We’ve been working hard along with some of the members of SaskPower. To try and get this into our area. As you heard tonight, there’s also maybe the transition away from coal isn’t going to happen very suddenly. So we’re kind of thinking we’ve got the best of both worlds right now. We’ve got lots of industry, we’ve got other people that are wanting to move into the RM, as far as welders, that type of thing, and this is going to be huge construction. So we’re pumped about it.”

As for the possibility of running coal until the reactors are ready, LeBlanc said, “That’s what I heard, too. And that’s excellent. That’s what we want.

“The reality is, it’s a changing world. And the ground is always shifting. And it’s easy for guys to criticize and ridicule and be negative about it. But, as you heard in a different speech, tonight, the view in the rearview mirror versus the windshield is it’s different, and those that adapt to change will succeed. And those that don’t adapt to change won’t succeed.”

The premier referenced the possibility of siting either at Boundary Dam or Rafferty Reservoirs. But most of the land around Boundary Dam that isn’t part of the existing power station or cabins at the south end has been extensively mined for coal, disturbing the land.

Asked about this, LeBlanc said, “There’s land there that hasn’t been touched, yet that’s touching the dam. I’m not completely privy to all that information. But I have made some tours. Boundary’s the perfect fit. And especially when you see the design of the potential, or one of the potential nuclear structures that they’re going to build. It’s about as safe as you’re going to find anywhere. The infrastructure, everything is on Boundary, and Boundary does make a lot of sense. But I think what you’ll see is this is the first of maybe more reactors, so you might see them all throughout the province, but this will be the first ones to get done. And the amount of jobs and construction that go along with it, regardless of which dam it’s on is going to be huge for our area.

“We don’t really have a preference, but what we would like to see is maybe that the infrastructure is already in place on Boundary, that it would be a nice fit. It’s a small building. It’s a small facility that they build, it doesn’t take a big footprint. It would make probably the most sense that it would be on Boundary. But if they choose to go Rafferty, or possibly both, it’s not a real issue for us, either one.”

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City of Estevan

Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig said, “We couldn’t be happier. I mean, what a great evening, not only to celebrate the 120^th, but to hear the words from the Premier. We were hoping that this day would come. It has. The fact that now it will either be Rafferty, or Boundary; fantastic news.”

As for keeping coal going until nuclear is in place, Ludwig said, “What we’re hoping for is that we will burn coal until the nuclear kicks in, until the SMRs are ready to use. That’s logical. So we’re hoping with the provinces blessing that that will be what happens.”

UPDATE:

In the May 31 press release Moe referenced, SaskPower provided maps and the following quote:

“In addition to the technical suitability of the sites, the Estevan region offers many benefits, including proximity to the City of Estevan to access existing services, a skilled workforce, accommodations and emergency services, as well as infrastructure, roads and transmission,” said SaskPower President and CEO Rupen Pandya. “Selecting a site for the first SMR facility will allow us to proceed with the many regulatory processes which are site-specific and critical to the project moving forward.”

Also, the release made the first public reference Pipeline Online has seen of these reactors being 315 megawatts each. The number quoted up until now had been 300 megawatts.

“SaskPower expects to select a final host site in the Estevan area in early 2025. Site selection is a critical step to enable SaskPower’s final investment decision in 2029.

“SaskPower is in year four of an eight-year planning phase for the development of nuclear power from small modular reactors. It is seeking regulatory approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on a site for an SMR facility it plans to build by the mid-2030s. If the decision is made to proceed in 2029, SaskPower intends to build the first 315-megawatt reactor by 2034, with another to potentially follow shortly after at the same facility.”

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