SaskPower looks to make province ‘energy powerhouse’ with new transmission lines

Saskatchewan is hoping to become a province with one power grid as SaskPower creates more transmission lines.

Saskatchewan currently has two separate grids, in the north and south. SaskPower says this causes interference when moving power to the northern grid as they have to wheel power through Manitoba to get it there.

SaskPower’s new multi-billion-dollar project is hoping to make Saskatchewan more independent by connecting the two grids with transmission lines made in Saskatoon. They hope to increase availability and reliability of power in and out of the province, including to the United States.

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“We literally have been helping Alberta keep the lights on through the cold spells that they’ve had,” said Jeremy Harrison, the minister responsible for SaskPower. “This will allow us to do that in a more significant way.”

Harrison says this project will help expand Saskatchewan’s economy and support growth for the future.

“I think we are coming to a point where really the ability of economies to grow is going to be measured as much by their ability to put power onto grids and move it as by anything else,” Harrison said. “And that is a significant change.”

The province also has long-term plans for the future of power including a transition to nuclear power generation, fuelled by Saskatchewan uranium.

Watch above to see what SaskPower’s new project will do for Saskatchewan and its neighbours.