Power Grid Not In Northern Saskatchewan’s Future
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 13:07
Uranium mines in the Sandy Bay area need more power — so SaskPower is looking at spending $100 million to reinforce power lines near the Island Falls hydro dam over the next few years.
Another $5 million will be spent to complete a new transmission line into La Ronge.
But a SaskPower spokesman says the province’s north will probably never see a power grid like what is found in cities.
Gary Wilkinson is SaskPower’s vice-president of planning, environment and regulatory affairs.
Wilkinson says, years ago, Saskatchewan used to be able to swap power from one line to another.
But he says power loads have changed, so that’s not possible now.
The new line into La Ronge has twice the power of the old line.
Wilkinson says if that kind of line is built elsewhere, backup power may be possible — but not in the near term.
He adds lines like the La Ronge one have way more capacity than older ones.