Slide 1 of 4
Agriculture has been the backbone of Saskatchewan’s economy since settlement. Saskatchewan’s primary producers of commodities, pulse crops, other specialty crops, as well as cattle and pork, have established an excellent reputation around the globe.
Yet, except for dairy, poultry and, to some extent beef, only a small section on our grocery shelves or on restaurant menus is reserved for local food. Guided by a short growing season, limited labour availability, and other costs, local vegetable producers have not been able to compete on a meaningful scale. But with new technology, immigration and changing consumer demands, it is likely that local produce production can be successful in the future.
Green energy supply coupled with large-scale greenhouses and “vertical farms” are becoming more prevalent worldwide. Specialized agronomy is producing better tasting and more nutritious produce. Increased automation is providing relief from labour shortages. Cultural changes, rising freight cost, increased production cost and yield insecurity in the US and South America are raising interest in local supplies. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to more awareness of supply chains, logistical hurdles and political interference through tariffs. Taste and nutritional quality are valued higher by many consumers in affluent countries such as Canada.
The abandonment of the current power production site by Coronach affords a unique opportunity: The combination of vertical farming and a cost-effective use of renewable energy will create a new quality-certified brand of homegrown food items.
Realizing the value of natural and healthy eating, we intend to create an agricultural ecosystem to supply safe, plentiful, cost-effective fruit, vegetables, herbs, seeds and specialty meats to regional grocers, specialty stores, restaurants and consumers.
Amazing scalability can be achieved by transitioning to vertical farming operations.
Our vision is to be a world leader in food safety!
South Saskatchewan Ready can promote this initiative with further allocation of financial resources, to ensure the significant budget requirement will build on the investment attraction and bring the vision to life.
Because it is critical for the next level of business performance, South Saskatchewan Ready has applied to the federal Universal Broadband Fund for the installation and implementation of high-speed fibre throughout our region. The project cannot go ahead without this funding.
The rebuild of the highways connecting the four towns to larger centres has been projected for a 2035 completion. The likelihood of major roadway upgrades is very low if the major industrial initiatives are not launched. Ironically, the most significant barrier to many of those strategic initiatives is lack of a heavy-haul route.
We are proposing to create a central agricultural eco-system to market locally produced food. Housed in the former power plant, the anchor is a vertical greenhouse capable of producing tonnes of produce. The vertical greenhouse will give our region many competitive advantages:
Since the power plant is not slated to close until 2030, we recommend implementing a traditional greenhouse system in the interim to gain experience, establish processes, and connect with and enhance the production of specialty crops and exclusive meat products. For the processing of the specialty meats, the next natural development is an abattoir.
Slide 2 of 4
Coal has provided stable employment, business opportunities and community development in our region for generations. With the use of coal for power generation coming to an end in 2030, the best and most immediate opportunity in mining involves accessing and extracting naturally occurring materials that contain enriched concentrations of humic substances.
Regional partnerships and alliances will be needed, as potential host sources of humic substances should be investigated region-wide. Business opportunities may develop with companies that incorporate humic substances into their fertilizer products.
Further consideration of recovery of rare-earth elements is not recommended in the short to medium term. Recovery technologies are not yet effective on the low concentrations found in our area, including in the power station ash depository. Absence of processing capabilities here means transporting raw material long distances, which would not be economical.
A host of long-lived environmental management obligations (dust management and groundwater protection, for example) and associated potential environmental liabilities are attached to ownership and use of the ash storage facility and will require consideration for future development.
There may be additional regional opportunities in the exploration for helium. Test drill sites are in progress in a number of spots, exploration to define and characterize local helium resources is currently underway in the Bengough area.
Future opportunities using regional clay resources and ash to produce construction bricks may exist, as well.
Slide 3 of 4
Replacement generation of electricity through green technologies is significantly less labour intensive than coal-fired generation. Regional assets relevant to future green energy opportunities are currently few, but important. All of our assets favour district energy as opposed to provincial grid energy, except for a nuclear Small Modular Reactor (SMR). The switching station and adjacent reservoir make the Poplar River Power Station site ideally suited for 600MW of SMR capacity, in the form of two 300MW units for reliability.
The greatest opportunity is for district energy to supply cost-effective power and heat for agri-value and mining initiatives. Reducing energy costs will be a crucial competitive advantage to overcome supply chain disadvantages, especially given the state of our existing transportation assets (road & rail) and our distance to major markets.
Historically, there hasn’t been much oil and gas activity here. Abandoned wells may be useful for geothermal energy sites, and logs from all wells will help pre-exploration analysis.
Our lignite deposits are well-known. While the use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology would qualify as a green option in our study, federal climate policy makes any investment in coal-fired generation extremely risky. If permitting challenges can be overcome, coal is a viable feedstock for syngas and biopower energy. The U.S. Department of Energy is funding research into the use of coal for construction products. The Mining and Agri-Value sections discuss the potential for coal as a source of humic based fertilizer.
The switching station is configured for the 230kV, 600MW generation capacity from the Poplar River Power Station. Given the complexity and time involved in constructing transmission facilities, the switching station will be an important consideration should the province choose to use nuclear Small Modular Reactor generation. It could reduce grid interconnect costs for solar, wind, and biopower projects, and has potential as a grid battery site.
Excellent potential, especially for district energy. Two companies have already selected wind sites, should SaskPower approve them for Power Purchase Agreements. The competition for intermittent grid energy solar & wind contracts is intense, with limited opportunities after 2021 due to grid saturation with intermittent generation.
With no major natural gas pipelines through our area, a grid-scale GTCC power plant is not an option.
Green fuel is gaining more attention, which, if translated into demand, will create opportunities. The best-known energy storage is battery.
Slide 4 of 4
We live in an area of unique historical riches and natural beauty — this presents both opportunities and challenges. While we need to attract significant investment to build a tourism destination known the world over, we also need careful environmental stewardship to protect and preserve close to 2000 years of human history.
Just as we see agriculture as the anchor for regional economic development, establishing a National Centre for Petroglyphs and getting it designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site will be an exciting anchor for tourism, attracting hotels, spas, resorts and other amenities, along with visitors from around the world to enjoy them.
Here are the tourism categories the study recommends we develop over the next 10 years:
A Virtual Reality (VR) project in partnership with the University of Regina and SaskPower has been launched by our project to demonstrate a unique experience. This pilot project is a virtual reality industrial application for the documentation of artifacts in the Poplar River Power Station. Once the techniques are validated, this components will be included in a tourism development plan, possibly an interactive coal interpretive centre, an up-close and personal connection with the Petroglyphs, or even the climbing of Castle Butte! While VR may not produce admission revenue, sites with an emphasis on donations have established good revenue and coupled with the two tourism anchor points, the VR connection will have a strong marketing appeal.
To get the job done, we will need strong leadership, a supportive regional committee and enthusiastic residents to create experiences adventure tourists can’t resist!
