News From The Field

Study into potential hydrogen hub

SaskToday.ca – The potential development of a hydrogen hub in the Regina-Moose Jaw area is being supported by the provincial government as well as Whitecap Resources and Federated Co-operatives Limited.

The three are supporting a foundation report study in order to provide investors a thorough analysis of commercial-scale hydrogen opportunities and synergies with carbon-capture utilization and storage (CCUS) infrastructure in Saskatchewan.

The study is to be developed by the Transition Accelerator and the Saskatchewan Research Council. The Transition Accelerator is a pan-Canadian charity that creates positive, transformational system changes that solve societal challenges while moving Canada to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It launched Canada’s first two hydrogen hubs. One is in the Edmonton region and another is in the southeast Alberta region.

The Ministry of Energy and Resources is providing a grant of $100,000 to complete the report. Whitecap Resources and FCL will provide another $50,000.

Announcing this study is the latest in a series of developments to promote and develop CCUS in the province. In September, the provincial government announced new policy commitments to advance CCUS projects, including opportunities to advance an infrastructure hub in the Regina- Moose Jaw industrial corridor that could lead to a commercial-scale hydrogen supply-and-demand chain in the province.

In October, Whitecap Resources and FCL signed a memorandum of understanding to explore CCUS opportunities as well as enhanced oil recovery and CO2 transportation infrastructure.

BHP wants to accelerate Jansen project

StarPhoenix – BHP wants to find ways to speed up its development of its multibillion-dollar Jansen potash project.

BHP Group President Minerals Americas Ragnar Udd was in Saskatchewan in late April to evaluate options for accelerating the project.

The first stage of construction of Jansen was approved in August. It is expected to start production in 2027 and will be one of the world’s top producers of potash.

This interest in speeding up the project comes at a time when supply chains are straining as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pushing up crop nutrient prices.

“If there are options to bring it forward — there may be a month or two in it one way or the other — we’ll take a look at that,” Udd said.

He explained that BHP isn’t building Jansen “for what may play out in the next six months,” but rather for its long-term value.

Record potash production and sales

Global News – Saskatchewan’s potash sector set new records in both sales and production last year.

The Saskatchewan government said production was recorded at 14.2 million tonnes and the value of sales was $7.6 billion.

The government’s objective is to increase the annual value of potash sales to $9 billion well before 2030 and it says it is on target to achieve that.

Saskatchewan’s potash sector accounts for approximately 30 per cent of world production from the province’s 10 mines.

Magnetic fusion research leader reflects

USask – Dennis Whyte, one of the leaders of the SPARC project to design and build the world’s first fusion power plant, was in Saskatoon in early May to receive a 2022 USask Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award.

The honour is to recognize his significant accomplishments since graduating from USask. After graduating from Shaunavon High School, Whyte headed to the University of Saskatchewan College of Engineering (USask Engineering), where he knew almost from day one that he wanted to be in engineering physics.

Today, Whyte is a recognized leader in magnetic fusion research. Whyte is the director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a professor in MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering at MIT.

He credits the USask’s engineering physics program and a pivotal 10-minute meeting with a respected USask professor for putting him on the path to where he is today.

Near the end of his USask degree, Whyte visited the office of Dr. Harvey Skarsgard about continuing his academic career. The timing was perfect as Skarsgard knew a colleague in Quebec looking for graduate students. Whyte earned his master’s and PhD from INRS-Energie, which stands for Institut national de la recherche scientifique.

“Professor Skarsgard, God bless him. That’s the 10 minutes that changed my entire life,” Whyte said.

While Whyte was in town to receive his USask award, he delivered the Cheriton Lecture, detailing his work at MIT and progress on the SPARC project. Progress on the project took a giant leap forward last fall.

“On Sept. 5, for the first time, a large high-temperature superconducting electromagnet was ramped up to a field strength of 20 tesla, the most powerful magnetic field of its kind ever created on Earth,” states a news post on the Plasma Science and Fusion Center website.

Developing the new magnet was seen as the greatest technological hurdle in developing a viable fusion power plant.

“You could argue that this moment changes the trajectory of humanity, because it’s the ultimate energy source that we’ve never been able to realize,” said Whyte.

“It sounds a little overly poetic but it’s actually an arc that you could argue started with fire.”

That discovery – creating a star on Earth – on its own is not enough, according to Whyte.

“What you actually have to have is a practical energy system that takes that and puts watts on the grid for everyone in the world.”

Whyte says the scale-up and the commercialization of the technology will use skills he first developed while studying at USask.

“That’s exactly what engineering physics is. It’s got deep physics but it’s got practical aspects of applying this to the real world.”

Northern Saskatchewan mineral exploration conference

larongeNOW – The demand for minerals found in Northern Saskatchewan as well as the number of people required to work in exploration was discussed at a recent conference in Air Ronge.

Keewatin Community Development Association CEO Randy Johns hosted a conference called Core Days 2022 which attracted exploration companies, government agencies and others. Appia Rare Earths and Uranium Corporation, CanAlaska Uranium, Eagle Plains Resources, Fortune Bay Corporation and MAS Gold Corporation were some of the companies there.

The event included presentations about various projects and mineral deposits throughout the region.

“There’s more gold that is coming on stream. There is rare earth [minerals] and there is a whole lot of interest in uranium, so we’re looking at a boom here is what’s going on,” Johns said.

Johns also noted Cameco is reopening the McArthur River mine site and Key Lake mill. By 2025, the uranium giant is expected to hire hundreds of new employees.

Energy industry representatives support Ukrainians

SaskToday – Steve Halabura, P.Geo., has organized a group of people in the energy industry concerned about what is occurring in Ukraine to form what is being called the Sunflower Network to bring Ukrainians to Saskatchewan.

The Sunflower Network is comprised of about 25 people between Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Saskatchewan contingent includes representatives from Estevan, Carnduff, Moosomin, Saskatoon and Abernethy.

Brian Crossman of Estevan is part of the group. He said many of Ukrainians who could come to Saskatchewan are now staying in Poland and other countries.

“They can choose to stay in Canada, or when the war is over, they can go home,” said Crossman.

Halabura has brought a doctor and his wife to Saskatoon. Crossman expects an influx of Ukrainian people moving to communities across the province. The people in Abernethy want people interested in farming, while those in Estevan are looking for those interested in the energy sector.

Many Ukrainians are talking to their families in Canada, which helps them get to this country. Some of those Ukrainian families moved here more than a decade ago during the Saskatchewan boom years.

Plan for small modular reactors launched

CBC Saskatchewan/The Leader-Post – Saskatchewan released a joint strategic plan with Ontario and Alberta to expand the use of nuclear power using small modular reactors (SMR).

The plan calls for support to develop three types of SMRs, a regulatory framework, a waste-management plan, opportunities for Indigenous participation and public engagement and co-operation with federal authorities.

SMRs take about 12 years to develop. The plan includes a goal of building its first modular reactor in Ontario by 2028. Four more would be built in Saskatchewan starting 2034.

The Saskatchewan government has not determined where a new reactor would be located but intends to have a site chosen by 2023. Public engagement on selecting a site is expected later this year.

Initial plans would be submitted to regulators in 2024. How the supply chain would work is to be figured out by 2026. Uranium would be mined in Saskatchewan, but where it would be enriched has not yet been determined. Waste is to be stored at one of two locations in Ontario. A storage site is expected to be chosen in 2023.

In 2027, the province would send regulators an impact assessment for the first facility so it could be approved by 2030. The industry is regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

In 2030, Saskatchewan would then make a decision on whether it should proceed. Construction would begin in 2031 with the first SMR operational by 2034. Saskatchewan could see a total of four SMRs by 2042.

Saskatchewan is also looking at developing “micro” SMRs. These would not be tied to the grid and could be used in northern and remote communities as well as for industrial sites.

SMRs could be a tool in fighting climate change and reducing Canada’s reliance on fossil fuels, Esam Hussein, P.Eng., the dean of engineering and applied science at the University of Regina and a member of the Canadian Nuclear Society said.

Governments wanting to move away from coal-fired energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions need to add nuclear power alongside wind, solar and hydro, said Hussein. He sees renewables as being key in the future of energy, but says they are generally only available 30 per cent of the time. Nuclear power is available over 90 per cent of the time, which could help develop renewable energy.

“I see that having a baseload — clean, no greenhouse gas emission baseload — will actually encourage more development and more use of renewables because now you have the backup,” said Hussein.

A federal government plan requires provinces phase out coal by 2030. Ottawa also wants Canada to produce net-zero emissions by 2035.

MOU signed for micro-reactors

Government of Saskatchewan – It was announced in mid-May that the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) and Westinghouse Electric Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance very small modular reactors (vSMRs), also known as micro-reactors, in Saskatchewan.

The two will jointly develop a project to locate an eVincitm micro-reactor in the province for the development and testing of industrial, research and energy-use applications. It, as well as its surrounding infrastructure, is approximately half the size of a hockey rink. It is capable of producing five megawatts of electricity, over 13 megawatts of high-temperature heat, or operating in combined heat and power mode.

The eVinci micro-reactor nuclear battery provides power solutions at a different scale than centrally generated utility-scale power. It can support remote mining operations, remote communities, individual industrial heat and power scenarios, distributed hydrogen generation and integrated energy solutions.

Lake Diefenbaker irrigation expansion project

Western Investor – Engineering work is being pointed to as the reason why construction of the $4-billion Lake Diefenbaker irrigation expansion project has not begun.

The project is to double Saskatchewan’s irrigation capacity. It is still in the design phase nearly two years after it was announced by the Saskatchewan government.

“I realize people always want to see some dirt being moved and something being built,” SaskBuilds minister Jim Reiter said.

“But a project like this, there’s an incredible amount of engineering that goes into it.”

Provincial officials are waiting for a pre-design engineering report that has been in the works since last year. This will be followed by more engineering. There is also consultation and environmental work to be done, said Reiter. Concerns about downstream impacts on the Saskatchewan River delta at Cumberland House, lake levels and more need to be addressed.

While the pre-engineering work continues, so, too, does work on the business case for the project. The cost of the project is a concern, Reiter said. The province hoped the federal government would invest in the project as it contributes to climate resiliency.

Ottawa is steering Saskatchewan toward the federal infrastructure bank instead. Reiter said the province is looking to partner on the project, not find a lender.

The recent provincial budget allocated $23 million specifically for work at Lake Diefenbaker. The project includes three phases: the rehabilitation and then further development of the Westside irrigation area and then the construction of the Qu’Appelle South Water Conveyance, which will include irrigation. When complete it could add 500,000 acres of irrigation.

Reiter said shovels could be in the ground in 2023.

USask identifies sectors risking freshwater

USask – A “first of its kind” report by University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers establishes the scientific case that industry activities are leading to severe and systemic impacts to freshwater resources.

“Our research clearly makes a case that industries such as food production, energy production, textiles and technology must do better not only to protect the freshwater resources of our planet, but to remain competitive in the market,” said Dr. Jay Famiglietti (PhD), executive director of the USask Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS), who led the team of researchers working on the report.

The Global Assessment of Private Sector Impacts on Water report looks at threats to global freshwater systems, including groundwater depletion, metal contamination, plastic pollution and water diversion.

“Water has been the messenger that is delivering the harsh realities about climate change to us,” said Palash Sanyal, engineer-in-training, strategic partnership and project manager at GIWS and a co-author of the report.

“Now scientists, industry and non-profit partners are all needed to do more to assess the impacts on our global water supply and to protect and manage our water in the future. There is a lot more that needs to be done to assess the impacts and the report is a step towards that.”

Industries and consumers are being asked to start thinking about how much freshwater is used in products and food. Those who wrote the report wanted to provide investors, businesses, and stakeholders with core actions that would improve how threats to freshwater could be mediated as well as innovative actions around water quantity, water quality, ecosystem protection, access to water and sanitation and public policy engagement and water governance.

“As climate changes and our population grows, clean water is becoming scarcer for most people around the world,” he said.

“We have the data, we have the maps, we have the research to show what’s going on, but we can’t move the needle on protecting global water resources without committed industry leadership and stewardship.”

The report was co-developed with the support of U.S.-based not-for-profit group Ceres. It is the latest from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warning of how the world stands on the edge of unavoidable and irreversible adverse impacts from rising temperatures.