Hi there! Mass market customers (residential, small business, etc.) are forecast based on historic and predicted population, as well as other statistical and economic factors that are known to impact customer growth. Some examples are resource production forecasts, household size, and GDP. The industrial customer group is well understood and forecast on an individual basis with collaboration from the customers themselves as well as their respective SaskPower account manager.

Thanks for your question! We’re aware of discussions to create a stronger Western Canadian Grid. We recognize the importance of interconnections with our neighbours and are exploring opportunities to increase our interconnections with them. While interconnections have existed for decades, they’re becoming increasingly important today because:

• They enhance resiliency to power system vulnerability caused by climate-driven extreme weather by acting as a good back-up for emergency situations.
• They have the potential to increase flexibility by supporting the growth of intermittent renewable generation in our supply mix.
• They enable us to explore supply options over a larger geographical area and with additional partners, potentially resulting in a more advantageous position and lower overall costs for generation development compared to relying solely on in-province resources.
• They allow us to import low- or non-GHG emitting power.
• They can be used to earn revenue by exporting energy from Saskatchewan.

However, there are also challenges to creating a Western Canadian Grid. Some of those challenges include:

• Funding. The anticipated costs for establishing a Western Canadian Grid are on the order of billions of dollars, with funding sources remaining unclear.
• Timeline. It’s estimated it would take 10 years or longer to build a Western Canadian Grid. This is too long to help the transition from conventional coal that’s set to retire by 2030 due to federal regulations.
• Permitting. The approvals on interprovincial projects are complex and not guaranteed.
• Other jurisdictions. Interconnections can be expanded beyond a Western Canadian Grid, so we’d need to evaluate if a western grid provides advantages over other grid expansions (for example – into the U.S.).

We’re aware that on Nov. 8, 2023, Portland-based NuScale and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems mutually decided to cancel the small modular reactor (SMR) project set to be built in Idaho, largely due to the availability of lower-cost generation sources such as unabated natural gas and coal. 

SaskPower has selected the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor design in part due to this technology’s readiness for deployment, along with generation size, fuel type and cost. The BWRX is based on a proven design currently in operation around the world and was selected alongside Ontario Power Generation (OPG), who will deploy the BWRX first. 

We’re committed to ensuring we can continue to provide safe, reliable, cost-effective power to customers in the future. We’re collaborating with OPG as they’re an experienced nuclear operator with a recent track record of completing nuclear projects on time and on budget. They’re currently in the process of extending the life of a four-reactor nuclear power facility and have completed the refurbishment of one of the units well ahead of schedule and on budget.  

At the end of the day, SMRs will have to be cost-competitive with other sources of baseload, GHG emissions-free generation options, and make economic sense for Saskatchewan for us to proceed. Based on feasibility work done to date, SMRs have the potential to be a competitive option. If we decide to construct an SMR, two things will help mitigate cost overruns:

• The modularity aspect of SMRs in general. Modular in Small Modular Reactor, means some of the power plant can be built in a factory setting and assembled on site. This reduces the risk of construction cost overruns.
• Based on the completion of the same SMR design by Ontario Power Generation, SaskPower will work with OPG to better understand potential costs to inform our final investment decision in 2029 to build an SMR in Saskatchewan.

Hi there! We asked about specific supply options in our Stage 2 survey. You can find the full results of that survey in our Stage 2 What We Heard report here, but we’ve also included the ‘Support for Generation Options’ for nuclear here:

• 39.4% strongly support
• 25.8% somewhat support
• 10.7% somewhat oppose
• 14.8% strongly oppose
• 9.4% don’t know

These numbers largely align with other publicly available research, such as Environics Research’s 2023 ‘Public Attitudes to Nuclear Power’ research which can be found here.

Based on early estimates, electricity from the GE-Hitachi small modular reactor (SMR) could be cost competitive with alternative base load, zero emissions generation options available in the early to mid 2030s. Based on the completion of the same SMR design by Ontario Power Generation by the end of 2028, SaskPower will have highly reliable cost estimates by the time a final investment decision is made in 2029 to build an SMR in Saskatchewan.

Water availability is a key consideration for a the SMR project. We’re working closely with the Water Security Agency, who allocates water for things like power generation and irrigation projects, and we’re conducting our own water availability study to help ensure that wherever our final site is, there will be sufficient water for the life of the facility. 

Before receiving a licence to construct and a license to operate a nuclear power facility our lifecycle regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), requires that plans for waste management and decommissioning are developed. Producing these types of plans prior to licencing is unique to the nuclear industry. Through the planning phase of the SMR development project we’re working towards developing these plans. If you’re interested in learning more, please visit the CNSC’s website.

Thanks for your question! We monitor emerging energy storage worldwide for ones that may potentially be well suited to our operating environment. As far as energy storage goes, thermal energy storage is one of the technologies that we’re looking at for the future. Right now, we’re just starting to build batteries. Our internal analysis has shown that batteries can provide the best value when used to balance the grid and to stabilize the local transmission system in the short term (less than one hour). The Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) near Regina is the first of its kind in the province and is capable of powering 20 megawatts of load for up to one hour. Learn more about BESS.

Thanks for the follow-up question! When calculating the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for a natural gas plant there are three main subcomponents related to the gas commodity itself. There’s:

• The price of the commodity (dollars per gigajoule)
• Transportation and storage costs (to get the gas to the plant)
• The carbon tax exposure associated with burning the gas

The forecasts we use for future natural gas prices are provided by a third party and their methodologies are proprietary and confidential. However, there’s some publicly available data for the AECO-C natural gas prices (AECO is the gas market we trade in) from the Alberta Energy Regulator. TransGas does have public information for their transportation and storage rates, and the carbon price is public knowledge. We assume the carbon price will stay at $170/tonne after 2035. The carbon price is a material portion of the LCOE.

Thanks for your questions! The total cost of coal in 2022-23 was $318 million. 8,424 net GWh of electricity was produced by this coal. Learn more about our expenses, revenue, sales and more in our 2022-23 annual report. We’re unable to provide the total energy content of the coal due to contract confidentiality and competitive market sensitivity.

Thanks for your question! Due to the competitive nature of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process we aren’t able to disclose the exact costs of existing or future Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Independent Power Producers. However, we can provide a price range for the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for wind, solar and natural gas in Saskatchewan. LCOE includes the costs to build a facility, the fuel to run it, staffing, maintenance, decommissioning and the price SaskPower would pay through a third-party PPA. It’s important to note that LCOE calculations don’t consider the different characteristics of each supply option, like whether the power is baseload or intermittent or how they interact with the rest of the SaskPower system. So, no supply decisions can be made based on LCOE alone. Like many tools SaskPower uses, LCOE provides a snapshot in time and is updated regularly as various factors change. 

As of March 5, 2023, the LCOE (before any potential government subsidies) in dollar per megawatt hour ($/MWh) is:

• Wind: 50 – 65 $/MWh
• Solar: 100 – 125 $/MWh
• Natural Gas (Combined Cycle Gas Turbine): 145 – 170 $/MWh
• Natural Gas (Simple Cycle Gas Turbine): 200 – 235 $/MWh

There’s no one source that can meet all our province’s power needs. It will take a combination of sources to provide reliable, sustainable, cost-effective power into the future. That’s why it’s important that we keep a diverse mix of generation options, including baseload and intermittent generation options.

Thanks for your question! Each of the four scenarios was created to explore different potential supply mixes. The Renewables 2035 scenario answers the question “What if you maximized wind and solar resources?” So, that’s why you’ll see the emphasis on wind and solar in that scenario. Though there is an increase of renewables in the other scenarios too. The other scenarios were created to answer these questions:

• “What’s your plan to keep power bills affordable while reducing emissions?”
• “What could net zero by 2035 look like?”
• “What if you reduced imported power and relied on in-province generation?”

To learn more about each of the scenarios, please check out our blog: Exploring the Future of Our Power Supply: Scenarios to Consider (saskpower.com)

Thanks for your question! Waste heat is reliable and affordable making it an effective power source for our supply mix. Currently, we have 20 MW of waste heat available to our power system from four NRGreen projects owned and operated by an Independent Power Producer. These facilities use Ormat Energy Converter (OEC) technology. Ormat’s OEC is based on the Organic Rankine Cycle – a thermodynamic process that transfers heat to an organic motive fluid that is vaporized. The expansion pressure inside a vapor turbine drives a generator. You can learn more about Ormat here: Ormat Technologies Inc. - Ormat Technologies Inc. - Recovered Energy Generation and view our System Map for more information about the NRGreen Heat Recovery Facilities here: System Map (saskpower.com).