How a new natural gas power plant in Saskatchewan could lead to a national unity crisis
Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Brian Zinchuk: How a new natural gas power plant in Saskatchewan could lead to a national unity crisis
Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Computer rendering of the planned Aspen Power Station, west of Lanigan. SaskPower
There are major events and projects happening in Saskatchewan that, when you sum it all up, will have profound impacts not only on the Saskatchewan economy, but national unity.
We are rapidly coming to a point where an irresistible force – federal greenhouse gas emissions efforts, are meeting an immovable object – Saskatchewan’s need to keep the lights on, and its economy rolling.
Justin Trudeau’s planet-saving efforts are coming to a head against Scott Moe’s efforts to save Saskatchewan from Trudeau.
I watched a rather extraordinary legislative committee meeting on May 3. NDP Energy and SaskPower Critic Aleana Young asked three hours of hard-hitting, but reasonable questions – basically 95 per cent of what I’ve been working on over the last year and change. And in response, she got very solid, reasonable answers from Crown Investments Minister Don Morgan, SaskPower CEO Rupen Pandya, and vice presidents Tim Eckel and Troy King.
From left: SaskPower VP Tim Eckel, SaskPower VP Troy King, Minister of Crown Investments Corp. Don Morgan, SaskPower CEO Rupen Pandya. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
A substantial portion of that time was dedicated to the previously proposed, but now planned Aspen Power Station, to be built 17 kilometres west of Lanigan. That’s really close to an existing potash mine, but more importantly, it’s roughly 30 minutes from the BHP Jansen potash mine which will soon be going into production. This mine will be the crown jewel in the Saskatchewan economic world.
The new powerplant will be very similar to the combined cycle gas turbine plants built by SaskPower in recent years at Swift Current and Moose Jaw. It’s 370 megawatts in capacity, and Jansen is expected to require over 200 megawatts.
In other words, you want the biggest potash mine in the world, you’ve got to provide the juice to power it.
And wind and solar simply won’t cut it. Morgan said as much in the committee.
Governments like mantras. And Premier Scott Moe’s current mantra he inserts into every speech is how Saskatchewan has the food, fertilizer and fuel the world needs.