Poplar River power station

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Poplar River power station is an operating power station of at least 630-megawatts (MW) in Coronach, Hart Butte No. 11, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Poplar River power station	Coronach, Hart Butte No. 11, Saskatchewan, Canada	49.057028, -105.485138 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1, Unit 2: 49.057028, -105.485138

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Retired year
Unit 1	operating	coal - lignite	315	subcritical	1980	2029 (planned)
Unit 2	operating	coal - lignite	315	subcritical	1983	2029 (planned)

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner
Unit 1	Saskatchewan Power Corp (SaskPower) [100.0%]
Unit 2	Saskatchewan Power Corp (SaskPower) [100.0%]

Background

The project to build the station was launched in the fall of 1974, with the Morrison Dam being constructed between 1975 and 1977 to provide cooling water for the station. Work on the power house began in 1975. The single stack is 122 m in height. The lignite used to power the station is supplied from the Luscar Mining Poplar River Coal Mine.

Incidents

In June 2023, it was reported that heavy rains in the Coronach area caused minor flooding, which brought mud and debris into the power station's wells. As a result, the power station went offline amid rising pressure on the grid due to high temperatures in the region. In August 2023, two months after the shutdown, Unit 2 had restarted and Unit 1 was expected to come back online within ten days.

Retirement

In November 2016 SaskPower's CEO stated that the plant was slated for closure sometime in the 2020s. In December 2018 the federal government finalized regulations requiring all coal-fired plants in Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to be retired by December 31, 2029.

An award-winning feasibility study reported on in October 2022 included the possibility of converting the Poplar River power station into a vertical greenhouse following its decommissioning. In this scenario, the Westmoreland Coal Poplar River Mine would be repurposed for fertilizer production.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.