Gala grand opening for Chinook Power Station

The addition of 353 megawatts of baseload power at the Chinook Power Station will help Saskatchewan transition to more renewable energy sources in the coming years.

A grand opening of the Chinook Power Station just outside of Swift Current was hosted on December 6, with dignitaries and Saskpower officials joining to celebrate the completion of the combined cycle natural gas plant.

“This particular facility is the newest in combined cycle technology. It’s the most efficient combustion turbine that’s available today,” he said. “So it goes a long way to help us reducing our emissions profile as we continue to provide capacity to serve the load in the province. So we’re really happy to have this facility on-line,” explained Mike Marsh, Saskpower

President and Chief Executive Officer.

The power station is capable of producing enough power for 350,000 homes, with the station generating electricity from both a natural gas fed turbine as well as a steam turbine which also generates energy into the grid during the second half of the combined cycle process.

“As the years go by the plants are getting more efficient. So you’re getting more output for your fuel input. And the emissions profile is coming down. So it’s all helping us meet our targets going forward.”

Chinook Power Station is Saskatchewan’s fourth combined cycle plant and it came on line on November 10. There are now 26 power stations providing electricity to the power grid across Saskatchewan, the first new facility since North Battleford was brought on line six years ago.