As SaskPower continues to move toward net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, an interim option while more long-term green energy options are studied is natural gas. The Crown Corporations’ manager of Supply Planning, Nanette Salamon, explains that natural gas power releases less than half the emissions of conventional coal and it can be used as a baseline power source, where things like wind and solar cannot.

Right now, the province’s power mix is 65 per cent from fossil fuels. For the rest, 19 per cent comes from hydro power, 12 per cent from wind, and four per cent in the ‘other’ category includes solar, coal with carbon capture storage, flare gas, waste heat, landfill gas and biomass.

SaskPower is looking at all options, including nuclear energy through small modular reactors, but that decision is years in the future, and then getting all of the licences and building the facility would come after that. Salomon says SaskPower’s goal was to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and then the federal government committed to a net zero electricity grid by 2035, but she doesn’t believe it is possible at the moment, because there are technical, financial and logistical constrains for this short time frame. SaskPower’s website has all the information on its green energy journey on its website, and has been having webinars to hear the public’s concerns or questions, which are also available on the website.