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REGINA — The Government of Saskatchewan has released Strengthening Saskatchewan’s Grid: Transmission to Power Communities and Growth, a report that highlights SaskPower’s planned investments in the transmission system.

The report also supplements the Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan, which was released last fall.

According to a release, a stronger transmission system enables large-scale industrial development, particularly in the province’s far north, where new mining opportunities depend on reliable access to power.

SaskPower’s long-term transmission investments are focused on three priorities:

• Reinforcing the existing grid to support reliability, safety and load growth across the province.
• Developing new transmission in the far north, which includes connecting the northern and southern power systems for the first time.
• Expanding interconnections with neighbouring provinces and U.S. markets to improve resilience and create more opportunity for power imports and exports.

“As demand for power grows, the transmission system must expand to keep pace,” SaskPower president and CEO Rupen Pandya said in a statement. “Our investments and major projects will continue to focus on securing reliable power to keep Saskatchewan and its economy strong and growing.”

The provincial government also laid out a long-term framework with the Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan. The strategy lays out a plan to transition to nuclear power generation fuelled with Saskatchewan uranium, by life extending the existing coal fired thermal power plants fuelled with Saskatchewan coal.