SaskPower has selected Missouri-based Burns & McDonnell as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor to lead the construction of the Great Plains Power Station in the Moose Jaw Agri-Food Industrial Park.
The Crown corporation selected the company via a competitive procurement process that balanced costs “with the ability to drive value Saskatchewan’s customers, local contractors and vendors,” SaskPower said in a news release on Nov. 16.
Burns & McDonnell was previously short-listed as part of the request for proposal (RFP) phase.
“On this project, SaskPower is working to exceed the already strong local and Indigenous engagement and employment efforts achieved with Chinook Power Station,” Don Morgan, the minister responsible for SaskPower, said. “As part of their proposal, Burns & McDonnell reached out to over 300 Saskatchewan companies to discuss how they could participate in this important work, and engagement efforts will continue as the project develops.”
While no Saskatchewan companies bid on this contract, local vendors are encouraged to reach out to Burns & McDonnell if they believe they can help execute this project. SaskPower plans to work with the company to hold outreach sessions for local vendors to learn more about available opportunities, the news release explained.
The Great Plains Power Station will be similar in size to the Chinook Power Station near Swift Current, which began operations in 2019. More than $140 million was awarded locally for the construction of Chinook, with more than $9 million to indigenous contracts, labour and subcontracts.
During construction, the building will employ an average of 230 workers per year. At its peak, it is expected there will be more than 500 workers on site. Twenty-five permanent jobs will be created once the power station is operational.
“This is another important step toward the Great Plains Power Station becoming a reality,” Mike Marsh, SaskPower president and CEO, said. “Natural gas generation provides an affordable supply of baseload power that will support the integration of renewables such as wind and solar into our grid. This will be crucial as we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and to make even deeper cuts beyond 2030.”
Once it comes online in 2024, the Great Plains Power Station will generate enough baseload electricity to power a city the size of Saskatoon.
More information on the project is available on SaskPower's website.
