SaskPower’s system in ‘good shape’ as heat wave descends on Saskatchewan

As Saskatchewan runs headlong into the first real heatwave of the summer, SaskPower is ready to handle the increased strain on the power grid.

On Monday night, Albertans got an electricity grid alert due to high temperatures and an unplanned outage.

Temperatures above or near 30 C are expected in Saskatchewan for the rest of the week, and on Tuesday morning, Rupen Pandya, SaskPower’s CEO, said he’s received an update from grid control.

“They say the system is in good shape, although we expect it to be a bit tight,” said Pandya.

When temperatures are very high, Pandya said two things happen to the power system. First, there’s less generation from wind, and second, power plants get de-rated.

“The ambient air temperature is so high that the plants are producing less energy than they typically do, and so we just plan for that by putting on additional generation,” Pandya explained.

Pandya said SaskPower has about 317 megawatts of standby generation capacity, which about the same as the amount produced by the province’s largest power generator. He said SaskPower can call on that reserve to help ensure there’s enough power in the system to keep everyone cool.

Rupen Pandya, SaskPower’s president and CEO, says power plants produce less energy during heatwaves, but the system has backup capacity that can be used if needed. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

“We’d have to be well into that reserve margin before we would declare an energy emergency, and certainly we would resort to other measures,” said Pandya.

There are other things SaskPower can do when the system is strained. He said when the province is going into a heat wave, SaskPower will often put out messaging to let people know when the best time is to do things like laundry and cooking in a heat wave, to help customers save money and take some strain off the provincial power grid.

Pandya said large SaskPower clients can also help out.

“There are clients who have said to us if there is a pending peak event that is going to occur, they’d like notification. They’ll take down their load to help us through that hour or so of peak,” he explained.

SaskPower regularly sets electricity usage records during summer heat waves. Last August, during a heat wave that neared 40 C in some places, a usage record of 3,739 megawatts was set in the province, breaking the 2021 record.