Our Poplar River Power Station (PRPS) is located near Coronach and opened in 1981. PRPS has 2 units (PR1 and PR2). Together, they can produce582 megawatts (MW) of power – which is about one-third of Saskatchewan’s coal power supply.
Our Progress So Far
We’re still working on the condition assessments of coal units at all our facilities. We expect these to be complete in early 2027.
Once those assessments are complete, we’ll develop a plan to life-extend Poplar River Unit 1 and 2 beyond 2030.
We also need to complete life extension work on common systems, known as PR0. These systems include the ash lagoon, coal handing equipment, and water treatment plant. They support day-to-day operation of all units at the PRPS.
Exploration Drilling
To support the continuation of coal operations at PRPS, we need to identify new areas suitable for future coal mining.
In 2026, we took samples at sites in the Coronach and Willow Bunch areas.
Why do we need to drill?
Our current mining plan ends in 2030 and needs to be extended. Since some land hasn’t been drilled in more than 40 years, we need to get samples to update our data. The samples will help us determine:
- Tonnage – how much coal is in the ground
- Strip ratio – how much dirt and rock needs to be removed compared to the amount of coal available
- Coal quality – if the coal is good enough to use
