CALGARY, Alberta — SaskPower has selected Burns & McDonnell as the engineer-procure-construct (EPC) contractor for its new Aspen Power Station. The new natural gas power facility will utilize highly efficient combined-cycle technology to provide up to 370 megawatts (MW) of reliable power to roughly 370,000 homes in Saskatchewan, particularly when wind and solar power are not available.

Named after its location within the Aspen Parkland Ecoregion, the new facility will be in the Lanigan and Humboldt area in Saskatchewan. Engineering will begin immediately, with the facility scheduled to be operational by Spring 2028. At the project's peak, about 750 craft labour will be expected to be on-site. The project team is committed to working with local, Indigenous, and women-owned companies, contractors and workers that are as dedicated to safe operations as SaskPower and Burns & McDonnell.

“We are proud to again partner with SaskPower on their fourth major generation project as they continue to power Saskatchewan,” says Leslie M. Duke, chair and CEO, Burns & McDonnell. “The energy transition is all about balance. With Aspen, SaskPower is able to reduce their overall emissions footprint, while increasing the viability of renewable generation in the province by using clean-burning natural gas as their transition fuel.”

“We’ve built some pretty special relationships with the local trades, women-owned and Indigenous firms we’ve worked with on the past projects,” says Jeff Reid, vice president of power for Burns & McDonnell in Canada. “Our mandate is to optimize existing relationships and then go further to expand those relationships on the Aspen project. We want to optimize the use of local suppliers, local labour and women-owned and Indigenous services to help businesses and everyone in the community to benefit.”

Burns & McDonnell served as the EPC contractor for two previous gas generation facilities for SaskPower: the Great Plains Power Station and the Chinook Power Station. Burns & McDonnell also served as the lead engineer for the Queen Elizabeth Generation Station project.

By leveraging past experience with SaskPower for the Aspen project, the team has been able to create schedule and project efficiencies by optimizing designs as well as equipment and construction methodology based on actual results from the previous work on Saskatchewan-based power plants. This detailed knowledge enables the project team to quickly ramp up efforts following the site blessing, held at the site at the end of March, and the groundbreaking ceremony held April 12, 2024.

“Participation from local and Indigenous companies, contractors and workers has been critically important in helping build Great Plains Power Station in Moose Jaw,” said Rupen Pandya, SaskPower President and CEO. “We are committed to achieving the same or a higher level of local and Indigenous support on the Aspen Power Station Project.”

Much like the Chinook and Great Plains power stations, Aspen will feature a Siemens F-class gas turbine and a Siemens steam turbine generator to optimize power output and maximize energy efficiency while reducing the overall emissions footprint.

SaskPower is a provincial Crown Investment Corporation and Saskatchewan’s leading energy supplier. The Aspen Power Station is part of a disciplined, staged approach to replace conventional coal-fired generation that must be fully retired by 2030, supporting greater penetration of renewable generation throughout Saskatchewan. SaskPower plans to build out up to 3,000 MW of wind and solar capacity by 2035.