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Saskatchewan plans to connect its northern and southern power grids with a major new transmission line after last year’s wildfires exposed just how vulnerable the province’s northern power system could be.
Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison said the province’s two-grid system had become a liability, especially during emergencies, and the new line between the E.B. Campbell power station near Nipawin and Island Falls power station in Churchill River would improve reliability for northern communities while also opening the door to more development.
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The E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station on the Saskatchewan River near Nipawin produces 289 MW of power, enough to power more than 250,000 Saskatchewan homes and businesses. (SaskPower website)
“We actually have a separate northern power grid and a southern power grid,” Harrison said. “What we have committed to, and this has been a part of the energy security strategy and plan, has been to connect the two power grids so that we’re not reliant on having to move power through Manitoba to get it to northern Saskatchewan if there’s additional need.”
The plan comes after a tense wildfire season in northern Saskatchewan, when key links through Manitoba went down and SaskPower had to improvise to keep communities energized.
“It was a major problem,” Harrison said. “We actually had during that wildfire season, both of the interconnections with Manitoba had gone offline.”
He said SaskPower operators managed to create an “islanded grid” to maintain service in the north, but the situation underscored the weakness of the current system.
“It really highlighted the vulnerability, I think, of having separate grids here in Saskatchewan and only having two interconnections through Manitoba,” Harrison said.
The province announced it had secured about $18 million in federal support through the First and Last Mile Fund for the planning, design and engagement phase of the project. Harrison said that money only covered the first step, not the full build.
“That is for this part of the project, which is really in the planning, design and engagement phase,” he said.
“We’re very hopeful that we’re going to have a more significant partnership on the actual major capital cost of the project, but nothing to announce on that front yet.”
The 111megawatt Island Falls Hydroelectric Station in Churchill River was opened in 1930 to supply power for mining operations at Flin Flon. (SaskPower website)
Harrison said the total project cost was currently estimated at $750 million, though the exact figure would become clearer as planning advanced.
“This will be a project, I think I’ve used the number about $750 million, which is kind of the overall estimate of the total project cost,” he said. “It’s a very, very significant investment.”
He said the line would do more than just shore up reliability. It would also help power future mines and industrial development in northern Saskatchewan.
“This is going to increase grid reliability for northern Saskatchewan, for communities in northern Saskatchewan, but also it’s going to enable us to provide power for new development,” Harrison said.
“Whether that be new mines, whether that be expanded industrial capacity, we’re going to be able to actually move that power up to northern Saskatchewan.”
The projected in-service date is 2032, though Harrison said he hoped it could move faster.
“We’re hoping to have the planned in-service date is around 2032,” he said. “I’m optimistic that that can move more quickly than that, but there are processes that you have to go through in these things, and we’re going to make sure that we do it right.”
— with files from CJME’s Lisa Schick
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