SaskPower has awarded an engineer-procure-construct (EPC) contract to Burns & McDonnell for the new Chinook Power Station. The 350 MW combined-cycle facility will be built on a greenfield site near Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. Burns & McDonnell had teamed up with SaskPower’s engineering group in submitting the winning bid in a tender that attracted five competing proposals from IPPs. The EPC contractor had just recently helped SaskPower to convert the 204-MW Queen Elizabeth Power Station from simple-cycle to combined-cycle operation.
Commissioning of Chinook CCGT in late 2019
Construction of SaskPower’s latest Chinook project planned to start before the end of this year, if all environmental approval can be obtained by then. As a provincial Crown Corporation, SaskPower has given notice to proceed in July – the project is currently at its engineering design phase. If all goes to plan, the CCGT will be commissioned in late 2019.
"Chinook Power Station is going to play a major part in helping SaskPower continue to meet a growing demand for power in Saskatchewan," SaskPower president and CEO Mike Marsh said, announcing the project is expected to create up to 500 jobs during construction and a further 25 jobs upon commissioning.
The 350-megawatt CCGT will be driven by a Siemens F-Class gas turbine and will also feature a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and a Siemens steam turbine. Combined-cycle technology is widely acknowledged for its fuel efficiency and low emissions footprint, SaskPower pointed out, adding this unit will also significantly reduce water use thanks to a plant design with advanced air-cooling.
Natural gas for the plant will be supplied under a long-term contract with TransGas via a pipeline that runs in close proximity to the plant site. TransGas is a subsidiary of SaskEnergy and serves producers and end users in Saskatchewan and other western Canada provinces.