SASKATOON, Sask. — The province is going all-in on a nuclear future as Premier Scott Moe announced Saskatchewan has set a nuclear power production goal of 2,600 megawatts by 2050.
That ambitious target was set in the province’s latest update to its Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy, which the province dubbed Delivering Energy Security Through Nuclear Power.
Included in that announcement is word SaskPower will now begin planning for the potential development of two large nuclear reactors in northwest Saskatchewan. The initial goal will be generating more than 2,000 megawatts, with the first of the reactors expected to be online by 2042.
“To put that into perspective, 600 megawatts can power the equivalent of Saskatchewan's two largest cities, Regina and Saskatoon,” Moe said.
“2,600 megawatts could power the equivalent of 2.6 million homes, but this announcement is about much more than electricity. It's about economic growth and opportunity for future generations. It's about jobs and very real careers right here at home. It's about creating opportunity for Saskatchewan people, Saskatchewan business, and it's about securing affordable, reliable power for every family in this province for generations to come and securing every opportunity we have to continue to attract investment and provide careers for those same families for every generation to come. Nuclear development represents a multi-decade economic opportunity, multi-decade economic opportunity, one that will create thousands of jobs across the engineering, construction, manufacturing, transportation, operations and maintenance sectors.”
The next step is for SaskPower to evaluate potential locations. Moe said it will start “identifying and assessing a site that would be capable of supporting large-scale nuclear generation in this province's western side of the province or the northwestern part of this province.”
Where the site would be is not yet known. But officials from the northwest who were at the announcement, including Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers, North Battleford Mayor Kelli Hawtin and Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie, were keenly interested in Moe’s comments about the region as a potential site.
“Northwest Saskatchewan provides a very strong, strong foundation for this planning to occur. It's strategically located and presents opportunities that extend beyond our own provincial borders,” Moe said.
He said large-scale nuclear generation in northwestern Saskatchewan “would help strengthen regional energy security as well, and I mentioned the power line that we are building through northwestern Saskatchewan that is going to service the communities in that part of our province and provide them much more reliable and affordable power for generations to come.”
Moe said this would “create future opportunities for us, yes, to export electricity not only throughout Western Canada, but throughout the entire Midwest of North America. It positions Saskatchewan not only as an energy producer, but as an energy leader.”
At the same time, Moe said, the province “remain[s] committed to deploying those small modular reactors in the Estevan area.” One of the side notes from the announcement was word that Rafferty has been selected as the site for further study for the SMR project in that area.
“Estevan has been the energy city. They have powered Saskatchewan's economy and powered our very homes for generations. It has a tremendously skilled workforce. It has industrial expertise and energy infrastructure that make it an ideal location to support Saskatchewan's transition from thermal to nuclear generation over the next number of years.”
Vince Bruni-Bossio, president of the University of Saskatchewan, welcomed the major announcement.
“Today's announcement marks an important step in Saskatchewan's ongoing commitment to exploring and advancing opportunities in nuclear energy. It reflects a vision for the future that recognizes the need for reliable energy while also, as the Premier noted, creating opportunities for economic growth, innovation and workforce development. And the University of Saskatchewan is proud to be a partner in helping the province achieve its goals around the future of energy generation.”
He added the announcement also “aligns strongly with our next university plan, something we call U-Plan 2035, and there's been a consistent theme that has emerged in that plan in our conversations across campus and our conversations across the province, and that is the idea we call local to global.”
“Local to global means that the work grounded at home here has a potential to have impact far beyond our provincial borders. It means the strengths, the industries, the communities, the partnerships that define this province, including our partnership that we have with the provincial government, creates opportunities not only to serve people here, but also to help address challenges and provide leadership across on a global scale.”
Sheldon Wuttunee, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan First Nations Natural Resource Centre of Excellence, welcomed the announcement as well.
He called it a “great opportunity to work together as First Nations and non-First Nations to come together to build those partnerships, and many of you have done that already, but to not only be able to supply those projects that we are hosting and entertaining here in the province, but those projects that they're entertaining around the world.”
