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Wednesday, July 11, 2018
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SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
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Units 4 and 5 at Fire rips through trailer in Willow Boundary Dam Park Greens on Friday night to be retired By David Willberg
dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station aren’t part of the provincial government’s long-term power production plans, and now there are questions regarding how much coal power will be part of power generation in the future. SaskPower announced on Monday that Units 4 and 5 at Boundary Dam would be retired, rather than receive a carbon capture and storage (CCS) retrofit. The future of Units 4 and 5 has been the subject of much speculation, as the government was faced with a decision whether to retrofit them with CCS technology, or look at other options for baseload power generation. If the provincial government is able to reach the much-discussed equivalency agreement with its federal counterparts, then Units 4 and 5 would come offline in 2021 and 2024, respectively. But without an agreement, they would be shuttered on Dec. 31, 2019. SaskPower is currently supporting the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment’s efforts to secure an equivalency agreement, which is expected this year. The equivalency agreement would allow the province to meet or improve upon federal emission requirements over time on a system-wide basis, as opposed to every coal-fired plant. “There was a significant amount of analysis that went into making the decision to not retrofit Boundary Dam 4 and 5 with CCS technology,” said Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskPower, in an interview with the Mercury. “It certainly was not an easy decision to make, but ultimately the business case couldn’t be made that would justify going through the retrofit on CCS for 4 and 5.” Because the units have reached the end of their lifespan, Duncan claimed they were going to require $200 million to $300 mil-
lion each for upgrades before the CCS technology could be applied to the two units. And since the costs were not competitive with other alternatives, Duncan said there wasn’t a firm dollar figure on how much it would cost to apply the CCS technology, and whether it would cost less than the original CCS facility, which opened in 2014. CCS and natural gas were viewed as the two options for new baseload power. “With historically low gas prices, when you look at the cost comparison between gas prices for today as well as for the foreseeable future, certainly it appears that we’re going to have a surplus of gas in North America,” he said. But natural gas is also prone to volatile price swings, an issue that SaskPower has acknowledged in the past. A decision has not been made on where a natural gas facility would be located. The Chinook Power Station is being constructed in the Swift Current area, and for the next baseload project, SaskPower is doing analysis on which site makes the most sense. Estevan would be considered as an option for such a facility. “Knowing the decision that we have to make with respect to the coal fleets over the next decade, I think SaskPower is going to keep a close eye on how we can mitigate as much of that as possible.” The eventual retirement of the units is not anticipated to include any layoffs for the 40 employees involved. Duncan said there will be opportunities for people to move into other positions, including to other plants outside of the community. Attrition could also allow them to avoid laying people off. Units 4 and 5 each produce 150 megawatts of power, A2 » CCS
A trailer in the Willow Park Greens trailer park was destroyed by a fire on Friday night. Just before 10 p.m., members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service were called to a structural fire. When they arrived on the scene, they found the trailer fully engulfed. “Crews did set up and establish water suppression for operations and made a fairly aggressive interior structural attack into the home, however, after approximately five to 10 minutes, crews were informing of signs of impending structural collapse of both the floor and the roof,” said Fire Chief Dale Feser. Firefighters were forced to retreat into defensive positions, and continued to do so until the fire was extinguished. The fire was not allowing crews to enter the home, and with the structural compromise, firefighters had to be pulled back.
A trailer in the Willow Park Greens trailer park was destroyed by a fire on Friday night. Photo by Corey Atkinson Feser said the fire department spent several hours at the scene. All family members were able to escape the home. A few minor injuries were reported, including a shoulder injury and burns, but those didn’t require treatment by Estevan Emergency Medical Services. The family has been displaced from the home, and Feser said it appears the home will be a total loss.
“We called in the Canadian Red Cross, and they are offering assistance at this time,” said Feser. A GoFundMe page has been started for the family, identified as Ryan and Alicia Koch. As of Monday evening, the campaign had raised $1,635 of its $2,000 goal. Shelley Porath, who started the campaign, said the family lost everything in the fire and ran out with just
their pyjamas. The money can help out with immediate items they need until insurance kicks in. There wasn’t any damage to the surrounding units, other than possibly some smoke damage. “It was kind of a heavy, dense atmosphere, so it wasn’t allowing the smoke to rise as it normally would,” said Feser. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Federal government provides support for passing lanes on Highways 39 and 6 By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The passing lanes and twinning that will be constructed on Highways 39 and 6 from Estevan to Regina have received a boost from the federal government. Ralph Goodale, the federal minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, announced an investment of $53.3 million on Thursday in Weyburn. The project consists of building 16 sets of passing lanes for Highways 39 and 6 between Estevan and Regina. It also includes twinning short segments, including Highway 6 south of Regina, and Highway 39 north of Milestone and south of Weyburn. Also included is the rehabilitation of approximately 51 kilometres of pavement, and the improvement of intersections and highway entrances and exits along the corridor. “Transportation and distribution of goods are a vital part of our local, regional and national economies,” Goodale said. “The investment announced here today will make our
transportation system stronger by addressing capacity constraints and safety concerns along this corridor and fostering long-term prosperity for our community.” The federal government previously contributed to the twinning of Highway 39 from an area east of Estevan to southeast of the junction of Highways 39 and 18. That project was completed last year. Doug Wakabayashi, the executive director of communications and customer service for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways, said two sets of passing lanes are scheduled to be constructed south of Regina this year, and the rest of the project will go to tender soon. But until the procurement process comes to a close, the full cost of the project won’t be released. Wakabayashi said the government decided not to twin Highway 39 northwest of Estevan because the existing traffic numbers didn’t justify the work. “We didn’t feel it was warranted at this time, especially with the truck bypass,” said Wakabayashi.
The twinning of Highway 39 east of the city wasn’t a factor in the decision not to twin northwest of the city. It’s a decision the government could revisit at some point in the future. “At some point in time, traffic volumes will get to the point where more twinning is warranted,” said Wakabayashi. The government expects the passing lanes will take about five years to complete. A decision hasn’t been made on whether construction of the passing lanes will south of Regina, and work its way towards Estevan, or if it will start outside of Regina and Estevan and then work its way to the middle. “Delivery is something that will be proposed by the bidders on the contract,” said Wakabayashi. That’s one of the things they’ll be evaluated on is their plan for doing work.” They could also start in the middle and work their way to Estevan and Regina. “One of the things we do by giving bidders the flexibility to determine A2 » COMMITTEE