(Submitted photo/SaskPower)

By Mat Barrett

Hydroelectric Power

E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric station getting $300 million facelift

Apr 15, 2021 | 2:00 PM

The E.B. Campbell Hydroelectric Station northeast of Nipawin is getting a facelift from SaskPower.

The station was first commissioned in 1963 and is nearing the end of its life, according to SaskPower Spokesperson Scott McGregor.

“We’re going to be refurbishing units one through six,” McGregor told northeastNOW. “And the work has actually already started. This is kind of a long-game refurbishment that’s going to take until 2025 to complete.”

Work began in September of 2020 on Unit Four and will go likely into June 2021. After that, work will be done from May until August for the remaining units.

McGregor said the station is very important to the area and the province.

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“E.B. Campbell produces about 289 MegaWatts of baseload, emission free power, which is great, across the board,” he said. “It’s readily accessible, it’s baseload power, so it doesn’t generate any emissions at all.”

About $95 million has already been spent on the $300 million project. McGreogor said about $6 million has been spent so far on Indigenous and local employment opportunities and employment. He added that the spinoff for a lengthy project like this will be great for the area as the workers use the restaurants and hotels.

McGregor added that the project will work around the seasonal water flows, ensuring that generation capacity windows are maximized. He said residents in the area will likely barely know that work is going on at the site.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6