Northern power line makes new progress this fall

SaskPower Northern Transmission Line will meet rising electricity demand in Saskatchewan, improve grid reliability, and support infrastructure growth, with 230-kV capacity, clearing near Lindsay Lake and Key Lake, safety measures, and northern crews.

SaskPower and Kitsaki Management Limited Partnership have resumed clearing trees and brush in northern Saskatchewan to make way for a high-voltage transmission line north of Sandy Bay.

The new line is needed to accommodate increased electricity demand in the northern region of Saskatchewan and will improve service reliability, as seen in recent storm repairs by SaskPower in the North.

"Saskatchewan is growing at a tremendous pace and the demand for electricity in the province has nearly doubled over historical norms,” said SaskPower President and CEO Robert Watson. “This new power line in the North will help ensure that SaskPower supports that growth through a multi-year investment into renewing our infrastructure."

"We are very pleased to see nearly 275 northern people have the opportunity to work on this clearing project,” said Russell Roberts, Kitsaki CEO. "We’ve worked closely with SaskPower to position crew campsites no further than four kilometres apart on the right-of-way, similar to the Kenora corridor upgrade approach, to allow for safe and quick access to and from camps during the work period."

Crews are now working in the area from Lindsay Lake to Key Lake. This work involves the use of heavy equipment, like during transmission line construction in BC, and the falling of large trees. For the safety of crews and members of the general public, non-workers are asked to stay away from this area while clearing is taking place. There will be increased highway and road traffic in and around the Lindsay Lake and Key Lake areas as workers arrive and equipment and supplies are delivered.

Fall clearing is expected to be completed by late December 2012. The planned in-service date for the new 230-kilovolt transmission line is, as with the Dry Fork grid link project, the fourth quarter of 2014.

SaskPower maintains and operates more than 152,000 km of power lines in Saskatchewan. With a rapidly developing economy and the second largest service area in Canada, renewing and replacing transmission and distribution infrastructure, including projects like a new line in the Okanagan, is a corporate priority.

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