The new 260 MW generating station at the North Battleford Generating Station, which began operations at midnight June 5, of this year, was the site of an official ribbon cutting and open house Tuesday, Sept 17.
The plant, located east of North Battleford, provides baseload and intermediate power generation, with a capacity to generate electricity for 250,000 homes. It brings SaskPower's total generating capacity to 4,355 MW.
The plant was built and is operated by the Ontario-based independent power company Northland Power, which has entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement for the facility following a competitive bid process in 2008.
Northland Power also operates a generating station at Spy Hill and an 86 MW natural gas peak power facility near Esterhazy.
With North Battleford in operation, Northland is now generating over 340 MW of power in Saskatchewan, and net 1,265 MW across all of its operating facilities.
Construction of the new power plant started in June 2010. The project was built under contract with Kiewit Power Partners.
The plant consists of a 170 megawatt gas turbine operating in "combined cycle" with a heat recovery steam generator and steam turbine. The boiler then produces steam for the steam turbine to generate additional electricity, bringing it up to its total capacity.
Northland Power also made a deal with the City of North Battleford to use wastewater from the City's wastewater treatment plant for cooling purposes at the power plant.
Following the ribbon cutting and open house event, Northland Power, the plant's owner-operator held a shareholders meeting at North Battleford's CUPlex arts and recreation facility, where, for $750,000, the company is the title sponsor of the $8 million Northland Power Curling Centre. The shareholders meeting is the largest catered event to be held at the curling centre so far, says manager Len Taylor. The Northland Power Curling Centre opened in October of 2012.
John Brace, president and CEO of Northland Power, speaking at the ribbon cutting of the North Battleford Generating Station, said the new plant is a high quality power plant and high quality people have been associated with the project. As president and CEO, he said, it was his chief responsibility that day to thank the many people and organizations involved in the project.
He thanked the RM of North Battleford council and staff for their advice and discreet help early on, when the area was being scouted for a site. "We couldn't talk about it due to the competitive nature of our business," he said.
He also thanked the City of North Battleford.
"Your support and, in particular, your water supply is very important to us," he said.
He thanked Dr. Ralph Hall and his family, from whom the site was procured. In other provinces, he said, they are often met with skepticism and concern. Here, it was the opposite, he said. The Hall family was interested in the plant, its development, the jobs created and the positive impact on the community.
"Your support never wavered through three years of very destructive things being done to your land."
First Nations support was also important, he said, and they were able to rely on a First Nations owned business for the waterline connection.
Brace also had positive words for SaskPower. Northland has had experience dealing with many utilities, and for "professionalism and just plain pleasantness, working with SaskPower is unmatched," he said, adding, "Don't interpret from that, however, that SsaskPower is not out there protecting the interests of its ratepayers and the citizens of Saskatchewan."
SaskEnergy also plays an important role, providing the natural gas to fire the plant. SaskEnergy did a great job laying the pipeline needed, said Brace, including a line under the river.
Brace also congratulated Kiewit Power Partners, the builders, for the impressive quality of the plant and for making safety a top priority in its construction.
Facilities such as the North Battleford Generating Station are expensive to build, he said, and the best way to minimize that is to have cost effective financing, thanking the several members of a consortium led by CIBC. Many millions of dollars of debt has to be created for such a project and he thanked those behind the "money" for making it as economical as possible for the taxpayers of Saskatchewan.
He also thanked the people of his own company, Northland, saying he was proud of the efforts they made in a project of the size and complexity of the North Battleford power plant.
James Temerty, board chair of Northland Power Inc., was at the North Battleford Generating Station for the official ribbon cutting for the generating station. One of two original founders of Northland in 1987, Temerty said he couldn't be happier with the success of initiatives in Saskatchewan at Spy Hill and North Battleford. Thanking the government for having vision and faith in private sector, and now retired SaskPower executive Tony Harris, he also made a special mention of and welcome to Dr. Ralph Hall and his daughter Heather.
"Farmer Hall got off his combine last night at midnight," laughed Temerty. He was glad they could be there to see the transformation that has happened.
Like Brace, he mentioned Northland's commitment to recognize the important role of First Nations in the community, saying a partnership in Saskatchewan is now added to their partnerships with First Nations in Ontario and Quebec.
Robert Watson, president of SaskPower, had words of praise for Saskatchewan. An Ontario boy, he moved here nine years ago.
"This is a dynamic place to be," he said.
Anywhere he has travelled in the world, if people are looking for a career, he encourages them to come to Saskatchewan.
Talking about SaskPower's mandate to provide safe, reliable power for the province, he said they serve an area geographically the size of Texas with approximately 25 per cent gas, 25 per cent hydro and 50 per cent coal generated electricity. To help meet Saskatchewan needs, SaskPower is looking forward to a long term partnership with Northland Power, he said.
SaskPower sees itself as one of the most innovative power companies in North America, if not the world, said Watson.
"We are building the first carbon capture storage facility in the world," he said, "and we are actually selling the CO2 to heavy oil producers. We're quite excited about that project." (The project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from SaskPower's coal-burning Boundary Dam.)
The province is growing he said, and it's estimated that over 2013 and 2014 demand will grow about eight per cent, "far and away higher than anywhere in North America and our estimation is that, in the next 10 years, there will be three per cent compound annual growth."
Watson said SaskPower has a strategy to invest about a billion dollars a year into infrastructure for distribution of power over the next 10 years at least. To do that, he said, they need partners.
"We need people to help us do it and we're open for business."
Gary Anderson of Kiewit Power Partners spent the last three plus years on the North Battleford Generating Station project as construction manager and then project manager.
"It's amazing how time flies when you are on a great project," he told the audience at the ribbon cutting ceremony officially opening the plant.
He said, "Four years ago the team sat down and set some pretty simple goals for the project."
Those goals were to build a high quality plant on time, and to send the men and women who built it safely home.
"We met that goal," he said. "We were able to do a million man hours without a lost time accident, which, in the construction industry, is a great feat."
There was a great attitude and teamwork throughout this project, he said.
At its peak, the project employed approximately 450 craft and 100 staff plus 75 subcontractors. There were hundreds more supporting the project back in the Kansas City home office, he said.
Many of the site workers were local, and those who weren't, moved here to find themselves welcomed by the community.
"We were treated like we were at home," he said. "It made our time enjoyable."
He also said Dr. Ralph Hall and his wife Barbara and family, whose land became the site of the project, helped out immensely. Anderson said he is glad to consider Dr. Hall a good friend and will always remember "tea and crumpets" with the Halls.
Anderson thanked Northland for being "a great client and great partner," and local First Nations representatives, BATC and BTC, for their support through various parts of the project.
Lastly, he thanked the people who helped build the plant.
"We thank all the men and women who came every day in the wind, sun, rain and snow - which, out here, can be one day - they really helped us build this project."
When meeting up with a former employee recently, said Anderson, that worker said it was the best job he'd ever worked on.
"Countless men and women worked their hearts out to build this project and I want to thank them."
Kiewit is one of North America's largest construction and engineering organizations. The employee-owned company operates in the United States, Canada and Australia, providing construction and engineering services in a variety of markets including transportation, water/wastewater, power, oil, gas and chemical, building and mining. Kiewit has publicized that it had revenues of more than $11 billion in 2012 and employs more than 30,000 staff and craft employees.
Doug Kelln, president and CEO of SaskEnergy/Transgas, speaking at the opening of the North Battleford Generating Station, said they are excited to be the "natural gas part of the puzzle."
Complimenting the Northland-SaskPower team, he said, "As service providers, we got exceptional help on exactly what was needed. We're proud to be a small part of this very, very successful project."
TransGas built a new pipeline originating 22 km southwest of the plant and crossing the Battle River and North Saskatchewan River. SaskEnergy constructed a regulator/meter station that delivers gas as high pressure to the turbine while also providing low pressure gas for the plant's buildings.
