Chinook natural gas power station opens, part of push away from coal

When the bright orange ribbon was cut to officially open the Chinook natural gas power station on Friday morning, the plant had already been feeding power into the grid for weeks.

The new station is about 20 kilometres from Swift Current, a big grey building popping up from the prairies around it.

SaskPower CEO Mike Marsh was part of a tour showing the media around the plant. After showing off different components like a proud father, Marsh said he’s happy the plant is online.

Marsh said there’s a good business case for this kind of plant, between the economics and efficiencies compared to something like coal.

“As the years go by, the plants are getting more efficient, so you’re getting more output for your fuel input and the emissions profile is coming down, so it’s all helping us meet our targets going forward,” he said.

A combined natural gas facility uses two processes to produce power. First it produces power from the natural gas, but then it also uses the steam byproduct of that process to produce more power with another turbine.

The stack at the Chinook natural gas-fired power station. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

Along with its goal to increase power production through renewables, SaskPower also has a parallel goal to reduce emissions — in part, driven by federal regulations, and Marsh said this new plant is going to help with that.

“With recent federal regulations requiring conventional coal to be phased out, we need to put other forms of energy back into the grid and combined cycle is a perfect match,” said Marsh.

The role of natural gas in SaskPower’s business has changed over the last few years.

Ten years ago, 60 per cent of the energy produced by SaskPower was created by coal, with natural gas taking 25 to 30 per cent. Now, Marsh said coal is down to 30 per cent of overall output, and natural gas is up to 40 to 45 per cent.

The plant will produce about 350 megawatts of what SaskPower calls baseload power — the power that is always needed at any one point in time.

While increasing renewables is a goal, baseload power will be needed to draw on when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. The 350 megawatts are about enough to power 350,000 homes, according to SaskPower.

With coal plants on the way to a required phase-out and another natural gas plant near Moose Jaw given the green light this year, the power produced in Saskatchewan by natural gas will grow. But Marsh seemed reluctant to say the utility will end up completely relying on it for baseload power.

“We continue to look at all options. We continue to look at what’s best for the province and how we can do this in a way that keeps, obviously, the cost of electricity low, and that helps keep rates low,” said Marsh.

The plant was finished on time, and about $74 million under budget. Marsh also said there was only one time-loss injury that happened at the plant in more than two million labour hours.

Big effect on the community

Swift Current’s mayor had nothing but great things to say about the new power station at the grand opening.

Denis Perrault said the construction of the facility just outside the city was huge.

“We were going through a time when we saw a decline in oil and gas, (and with) agriculture being uncertain, this project was huge,” he said. “When you’re talking almost $700 million spent within 10 kilometres of your community, with a commitment to focus on local — local being the entire province — it was big.”

Perrault said restaurants and hotels were full, gas stations were busy, the stands were full at local hockey and baseball games, and even local charities saw a boost.

The construction is over now, though, and the plant has gone from about 700 workers at its peak to about 25. Far from being disappointed it was over, Perrault said city council is working on some big projects to announce in the coming months that he hopes will fill the gaps left now the construction of the plant is complete.