Renewable

July 10 (Renewables Now) - SaskPower, the Canadian utility doing business in Saskatchewan province, has entered the Request for Proposals (RfPs) stage of a previously unveiled competitive process to buy up to 200 MW of wind power.

The RfP was announced on Thursday and is the next step in the company’s procurement round that will help it reach its goal to source up to 50% of Saskatchewan’s power from renewables by 2030 and lower its carbon footprint by 40% from 2005 levels. The new wind power capacity is expected to be in service in early 2021, with its output expected to be enough for nearly 80,000 homes.

“As of today, wind makes up a total of five per cent of our available generating capacity. We plan to increase this to 30 per cent by 2030 and this project is one way we will reach our goal,” said Guy Bruce, SaskPower’s vice-president of special projects.

Following the Request for Qualification (RfQ) phase, launched in February, SaskPower shortlisted eight independent power producers (IPPs) to bid in the wind tender. A total of 23 parties participated in the RfQ.

Candidates qualified under the RfP will be able to submit their proposals until May 25, 2018. The successful bidder will be announced in the autumn of 2018.