SaskPower has announced a new Green Options Plan and Green Options Partners Program, which will add an additional 200 megawatts of wind power to the crown utility’s generation capacity.
The Green Options Plan is intended to bring in up to 175 megawatts from independent power producers. A competitive process will determine which producers supply the wind power. A request for qualifications will be issued Dec. 1 to identify qualified bidders. Further details will be released before the end of the year.
Under the Green Options Partners Program, SaskPower will introduce a standing offer program to buy up to 50 megawatts of renewable power from private sector developers.
Up to 25 megawatts will come from wind power and the rest through proven clean technologies such as biomass, heat recovery and low impact hydro generation.
Sky Harvest Windpower Corp., which is developing two utility scale wind farm projects in southwestern Saskatchewan through its subsidiary Sky Harvest Windpower (Saskatchewan) Corp., plans to respond to the Green Options Plan request. Its project near Birsay, Sask., has the potential to provide enough electricity to serve 65,000 Saskatchewan homes.
