Coal injunction dismissed by Court of Appeal, another defeat for the climate crusading counselor. A five-time failed political candidate, this lawyer repeatedly has tried to use youth and an “eclectic crew,” as one judge called it, to achieve with the courts what he has failed to at the ballot box.
Also
Exploratory licenses take off in October Crown land sale
Jim Warren: China’s solar energy myth: Environmentalists and journalists aren’t telling the whole story
Coal injunction appeal decision expected Oct. 19. Here’s how it went in court
The fate of Saskatchewan’s coal-fired power generation industry, including two mines and three power plants, comes down to one word: “justiciability.”
Ottawa announces $100 million toward Nova Scotia offshore wind project
EverWind says $10B AI data centre proposal largest private investment in N.S. history
Hitachi announces $479M plan to build transformer insulation factory in London, Ont.
FYI I am working on that coal injunction story from a few weeks ago. The court’s ruling is expected Monday. This is what led up to it. Watch for it.
Brian Zinchuk: Thank you for five years of Pipeline Online, with many more on the horizon
More on nuclear, with more to come:
Details on that Korean/US deal for the same model of Westinghouse reactors Sask is considering
SaskPower community outreach session on SMR site selection
Two CANDU models offered to SaskPower for large nuclear consideration
Lloydminster was surprised to hear large reactors may be coming their way
Tim Gitzel: Cameco is “ready for this day” announcing large nuclear for Saskatchewan
Also:
Weekend Watch: How Coal is Turned Into Electricity
This should be included as a required training video for all SaskPower and Crown Investments Corp. staff, as well as all MLAs.
I’ve written five stories thus far on the major announcement on Sept. 29 that Saskatchewan intends on building large scale, 1000 megawatt nuclear reactors in northwest Saskatchewan. I have at least another five to go. Here’s the first tranche, with the initial piece being the big lead.
Lead:
Two large reactors in the NW, two SMRs in the SE: Moe lays out Saskatchewan’s nuclear plans
Scott Moe: “Today, we are announcing plans to build about 2,600 megawatts of nuclear generation by the year 2050”
How are we going to put together a supply chain and workforce for building nuclear?
Sheldon Wuttunee on nuclear power: “What a great opportunity to work together”
Carla Beck: Our team supports nuclear power … Saskatchewan people deserve to see the full plan
ALSO:
Pipeline Online Podcast Ep 45: Heather Exner-Pirot on major pipeline and nuclear developments
QuickQuotes: Reaction to the Pacific Link pipeline project
Lithium in SK, Part 44: Feds invest into Prairie Lithium project
Premier Scott Moe talks a lot about increasing oil production from 450,000 barrels per day to 600,000. It looks like Strathcona Resources will be a huge part of that increast (about a third), if they are successful in their plans. And that’s all in northwest Saskatchewan.
Strathcona Resources opens Meota Central SAGD facility, with big plans for more to come
Also, some pieces from Canadian Press on the new Build Canada Strong Act:
Liberals table bill to speed up major project approvals, avert labour disruptions
Five things to know about the Liberals’ new Building Canada Strong Act
And some more on the whole potash thing:
Moe warns ‘blood potash’ part of Trump’s planned deal with Belarus to thwart Canada
BREAKING: Bell to quadruple the size of Regina AI data centre, build its own 900 MW of power generation
They haven’t even finished building the first part of its Regina data centre, yet Bell Canada will now quadruple it in size. The announcement is the largest dollar value project in Saskatchewan history, and its power consumption will equal 42 per cent of Saskatchewan’s current power generation on a mid-September day.
The power consumption will be equal to four BHP Jensen potash mines, which is to be the largest in the world. The economic impact of $50 billion will be greater that the dollar value of Saskatchewan’s provincial budget for not one, but two years, with several billion more to spare.
This is mammoth.
Also, check out today’s podcast, where Bronwyn and I got into a heavy debate with a gentleman on coal fired power generation.
The Great Coal Debate: Should Saskatchewan refurbish its coal fleet? Mitch Carlson on Ep. 44 Pipeline Online Podcast
And
Jim Warren: The more we learn about Donald Trump’s Venezuelan oil deal, the worse it looks
First of all, I’m not endorsing this video. There’s a fair bit of hyperbole. But it is also a very interesting perspective on the current trade war between the United States and Canada.
Weekend Watch: The US-Canada War has begun
Additional weekend reading:
Jim Warren: It’s kinda hard to worry about the climate when Trump’s trade war might put you out of work
Officials break ground on massive carbon capture project in central Alberta
Not sure if I posted this earlier in the week:
Pipeline Online Podcast Ep. 42: Chris Beaudry, Saskatchewan Minister of Energy and Resources. Topics include ongoing trade war, pipelines, Venezuela, and growing Saskatchewan oil production. Beaudry will be speaking at the upcoming Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show in mid-September.
So I just posted this on Facebook. I wonder what sort of response I’ll get?
So that purple area is right over the Turning Sun solar array under construction southwest of Estevan. This is at 11:50 p.m. on Friday. I feel bad for the farmers, for sure, as that purple is likely hail. The question is, how will the array fare? I’m not nearby this weekend, so if anyone notices any damage, please let me know.
This is what Environment Canada says: “At 11:46 PM CST, a line of severe thunderstorms is located from about Oungre to Estevan then to 25 km south of North Portal. These severe thunderstorms are moving northeast at 35 km/h. Damaging wind gusts, up to quarter size hail and heavy rain are possible.”
A big question I’ve been asking for years is this: Show me one place in Saskatchewan where you can guarantee it will not be hit by toonie sized hail over the next 25 years? I asked SARM’s board this. They all laughed, because they have a hail insurance company for that exact reason. My own place has been hit by toonie to baseball sized hail twice in 18 years. My dad’s farm was wiped out by the white combine around 1987. So how will hundreds of millions of dollars of solar panels hold up when the inevitable happens? This array is supposed to pivot vertically to reduce damage, something fixed arrays can’t do. Maybe that’ll help. This particular area in the image has hit hard several years ago by hail. I hope it’s just rain, for the farmers’ sake. If you know what happens, please comment below or let me know.
Jim Warren: Trump’s Venezuela oil ‘deal’ might not be all that and a bag of chips.
Trump’s Venezuela deal underlines the urgency of building new export pipelines to reach non-US customers: But that doesn’t mean the universe will unfold like Trump thinks it will.
Trump announces major Venezuela oil deal, and what it means for Canada
The timing of this, in the midst of a major trade dispute between Canada and the US, as well as the impending Alberta independence referendum, if likely no coincidence. Trump may have just played his trump card, as it were. If our biggest customer of our most valuable product no longer needs or wants it, what are we to do?
Wanna build a data centre in Saskatchewan? Be Canadian, and bring your own power.
While the backlash has been growing, anyone who uses their cellphone for Google, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail or nearly any other major app is, in fact, using a data centre. The online protests about data centre quite literally use data centres to make their posts. If you use a smartphone, you are using data centres.
Moe: “We cannot in any way support the adding of export tariffs on a product like oil”
“Again, this is only a function of a flawed policy discussion that we have had in this nation over the course of the last decade or better, where we see those very, in all too often, those very same individuals that are promoting export tariffs on a product like oil, 10 years ago, were the very same individuals standing up and saying we should not build important energy security infrastructure like the Energy East Pipeline.” – Scott Moe
Think about this: The top three contributors to Saskatchewan’s GDP is oil, potash and ag, with oil and potash vying for top spot (usually it’s oil, but potash might beat it this year). If we put an export tax on any of those, we’re shooting ourself through the foot, floor, and neighbour’s ceiling in the apartment below us.
Op-Ed: Christina Turnbull: More Than Megawatts: A Power Worker’s View of Saskatchewan’s Coal Transition
NDP release Pembina Institute paper on costs of coal refurbishment, but the paper leaves out a lot of context. The report puts a lot of faith in wind and solar, but real world examples over the last two weeks bring that faith into doubt. Using the scenarios the Pembina Institute outlines in the report quoted by the NDP, on Aug. 12, Saskatchewan would have run out of batteries six times in 24 hours.
And just after I finished writing this at 2 a.m., I got an email alert that Alberta wind generation fell to less than 1 per cent output, again. But they have no use for baseload power. Good grief.
Jim Warren: Uncertainty abounds in our tumultuous times: It’s starting to negatively affect the quality of oil market analysis
Whereas Premier Scott Moe focused on the trade war, NDP Leader Carla Beck focused on Moe.
Prime Minister Carney’s statement on trade negotiations. Yes, they’ve gone kaput, and a press conference is expected to go live at 11 a.m. EDT.
I wonder what position our elbows are to be placed now?
A look back at the Keystone XL pipeline drama as Trump touts its potential revival
Trump boasts Keystone XL as trade talk win. It’s not clear it was ever off the table.
N.S. premier says U.S. trade dispute a ‘wake-up call’ for economic diversification
What does the mammoth Newfoundland/Quebec hydro and wind deal mean for Saskatchewan’s nuclear ambitions?