https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-ottawa-coal-agreement-1.4974402
[The Canadian federal government chooses to allow Saskatchewan proceed
with increasing GHG emissions from electricity generation for the next
few years.
"...the agreement gives more certainty to the employees working on those
two (coal-fired generating) units and coal miners."
Saskatchewan refuses to implement a price on GHG emissions, and is
challenging the federal government's right to do so nationally.]
Equivalency agreement could be official in February
CBC News · Posted: Jan 11, 2019 8:26 AM CT
Saskatchewan and Ottawa have an agreement in place over coal fired
electricity that will give two units at the province's major power plant
a longer life expectancy.
The federal government recently published details of an equivalency
agreement with the province.
Without the deal, SaskPower would lose some of its coal-fired power as
soon as this year.
"We'd have to shut down Boundary Dam unit 4 and 5 by the end of 2019. So
really it would mean that those two units would be shut down by the end
of the calendar year," said Dustin Duncan, minister responsible for
SaskPower.
The equivalency agreement allows Boundary Dam 4 to remain open until the
end of 2021 and Boundary Dam 5 to the end of 2024. Duncan said both are
reaching end of life.
Duncan said the agreement gives more certainty to the employees working
on those two units and coal miners.
"The clock is still ticking on all of our coal-fired electricity
generation. The federal regulations, the federal government has mandated
a shutdown of any coal-fired units by 2030 unless it has carbon capture
sequestration technology attached to it."
Currently, only Boundary Dam 3 has carbon capture and sequestration
(CCS) technology. It can run beyond 2030. The coal-fired plants without
it would have to be shut down.
Poplar River power station has an expiry of the late 2020s. Shand Power
Plant has a retirement date of 2042 but Duncan said the federal
regulations would shutter it in 2030, unless it installs carbon capture
and sequestration.
"Without CCS on Shand, we are stuck with a stranded asset because of the
regulations," Duncan said.
In July 2018, SaskPower publicized it would not convert these two units
to use CCS as was done at unit 3 of the coal plant for $1.5 billion.
Last September SaskPower CEO Mike Marsh said the power corp was "leaving
the door open" for potentially expanding CCS to additional plants
besides Shand, such as two units at Poplar River and Boundary Dam Unit 6.
As of 2016, 40 per cent of the province's electricity came from coal.
Under the agreement, Saskatchewan commits to have at least 40 per cent
of the provinces' electricity generation capacity be from non-emitting
energy sources by 2030. As of now, the province is at about 25 per cent.
Here are the targets for Saskatchewan of non-emitting energy sources in
percentage by 2030:
26 - 30 by 2021
30 - 34 by 2024
34 - 40 by 2027
40 - 50 by 2030
The agreement is in the 60 day period of public comment and if there are
no changes it could be completed by March.
