An environmentalist is calling for changes in the way Saskatchewan generates its energy — but he acknowledges not all of them will work in the province’s north.
Bob Halliday recently tabled a report on behalf of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society.
In the paper, he argues the province should begin to wean itself free of coal-fired electricity for numerous reasons.
Right now, Bob Halliday says 50 to 70% of Saskatchewan’s annual energy load comes from coal-fired electrical plants.
He cites wind and solar energy as some renewable alternatives that could eventually become mainstays in the province.
However, he says solar likely won’t work for northern Saskatchewan in the winter, because the angle of the sun is too low to meet peak power demand:
“Getting that far north, I think solar is probably a non-starter. But wind power does provide some opportunity to replace some of that diesel generation.”
Halliday says a proposed biomass energy project in Meadow Lake and small-scale hydro development at Black Lake are exciting alternatives that bear further scrutiny.
In the case of the hydro project, Halliday explains there is a lot of room to play around with the idea.
He notes some small-scale developments don’t even require a dam to be built — water can simply be used to rotate a turbine.
However, he says the disadvantage to them is that the site has to be close by because it’s not economically feasible to spend a lot of money on transmission lines.
Halliday says two of the province’s three main coal plants will have to be replaced during the 2020’s, so the opportunity is there to branch out:
“There’s no silver bullet that meets all need, but you need to have a blend of different power sources and ability to deal with sources that aren’t 100% there all the time, and that blend is critical.”
For example, Halliday says the province could store water in Lake Diefenbaker for days when the wind doesn’t blow. That way, he argues, the province could accommodate renewable energy and still have a back-up plan.