45 Replies to “SaskPower is literally doubling down on wind and solar power production. Expect lots of giant stinking fans and shiny panels to come”

  1. It would be more cost effective and efficient to generate electricity by simply burning the money they are pissing away.

    1. *
      just make sure you’ve got 10 gallons of sunshine out in
      the garage for when your furnace runs out of oil.

      *

    2. hahahahaha, GOOD ONE !!!!!!!!!! and so true
      All this stuff is so much BS…….wind power, solar panels, EV’s in -40C in Saskatchewan or any Prairie provinces……JUST INSANITY

      1. *
        Pump the brakes, bro… solar panel manufacturing has driven
        up the demand for rare earth minerals        … do you have any idea
        how many mining jobs that has created for 11 year-old children
        in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

        *

  3. Nuclear i can see, this stuff is just feel good garbage. Solar and wind are still at the individual use level. Nowhere near capable of maintaining base load.

  4. If it’s government money, before one penny is spent on solar or wind power, 100% of hydro-electric potential should be harnessed. Hydro is proven. Solar and wind are jokes. The Saskatchewan River system could have at least 6 or 8 more dams.

    1. At the very least, whomever is making these decisions should make sure that there is a solid workable plan to get rid of the toxic waste from the epoxy/carbon fiber/fiberglass blades and the heavy metals and non-recyclable glass from the panels. Not to mention the 450 to 475 cubic meters of concrete and steel bar that make up each wind tower base. Therefore, the money for the demolition, disposal and toxic waste cleanup should be included in the total cost report that will be given to the taxpayers before beginning the process of buying and erecting this equipment. I would think that the cost comparison by megawatt between wind/solar and natural gas turbines would favor natural gas by a wide margin. Also, every megawatt of wind/solar has to be backed up with a reliable source of power anyways. One only has to stand in the middle of a 200-megawatt wind farm in January, with the temperature at -35C, and the wind hasn’t blown hard enough for 3 days to turn one blade to realize that an industrial society needs on demand power 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Here is a link showing the horrors of wind and solar for your entertainment.
      https://stopthesethings.com/

    2. Actually there is very little potential for hydro electric in Saskatchewan. All of the good sites have already been used. We have very little elevation drop across the province. Our rivers do not have the volume that Manitoba has managed to harness.

      We have lots of coal though.

      1. Coal hydro. Burn coal to pump water into a reservoir which then generates electricity which you sell as 100% renewable. Quebec Hydro doesn’t tell people how much fossil fuel it uses.

        1. If you’re gonna invest in massive storage schemes, why not use wind and solar to fill them? If we had that kind of storage ability, wind and solar would come a lot closer to being viable, indeed, with some modest storage, wind and solar are viable on micro-scales. Looks to me like many people are ideologically opposed to the tech on principle, as opposed to the merits and weaknesses of the tech. Kinda like how this site cracks down on e-bikes, but not cordless tools, which use the same kind of batteries, and never mention other, safer high-energy density battery options, like LiFePo.

          1. We could pump the water to the top of Mount Blackstrap. 300 feet of head. All ice for 5 months of the year. I used to ski on that piste 40 years ago and it was a sheet of ice from top to bottom.

            You can probably store a couple thousand gallons up there.

            I’m not sure where else you would pump it. Probably would work dandy in Alberta and BC.

          2. *
            “invest in massive storage schemes”

            Investment implies some sort of return on the money you put in.
            Wind and solar are more of a ‘pissing it all away to ease my liberal
            conscience            ‘ sort of thing.

            *

          3. None of my many cordless tools has caught fire while charging and burned down my garage, shop, house. Hi Ho.

      1. Come hell or high water, Obama’s campaign supporters were going to get paid; and that is exactly what Solyndra was all about.

  5. Because wind turbines are so beautiful.

    It’s what liberals do. Even when they are Canadian conservatives.

  6. In twenty years or less the province will be littered with derelict eco-crucifixes with previous owners nowhere to be found. They will have operated as long as the subsidies lasted but with fossil fuels rare as gold and similarly priced, self replication or replacement is impossible. Coal will have to return to prevent the complete destruction of the remaining forests. Starving people will wonder why the western world went insane on energy along with many other pathologies.

  7. Time for some changes at the head and within Sask Power! Time to get there heads back out where the sun actually does shine and the wind blows, dut not to the extent that they think. Unfortunately they have a certain subset in there employ that is dependent on pushing renewable for further employment.

  8. As of a minute ago Alberta’s combined wind and solar ‘utilities’ were contributing a mere 13.8 % of the total demand and 28.3% of their combined nameplate capacity.
    The answer is E=M*C^2.

  9. Sorry … but Sask. is literally the “Poster Province” for where NOT to install these DOA “green” energy contraptions

  10. Here in Manitoba, MB Hydro buys contracted bird killer windmill electricity, at a premium, as it had to have a “green” component , in order to obtain export contracts with Minnesota and Wisconsin.
    So stupid.

    1. Why does Manitoba use anything but hydro? They export a shitload. Export less or build another dam.

  12. An easy enough solution, or a portion of it, would be for the electricity buyers to stipulate on a yearly basis how much of their purchases would come from solar/wind. Have a true costing included in the calculation. When people are made to understand the economics these blights on the landscape will disappear. The current provincial government in Ontario has done nothing to get rid of them here. Some of the 20 year life span is coming close to arrival.

    1. BullFrog power was one of the rentseekers who sold many people on “Buy wind power from us” even if the electrons you get are from any other source. I asked if I could do the same thing for Nuclear Power, and was told it wasn’t an option, because reasons.

  13. Boy, those Europeans sure are dumb for what they did to their power system. We’d certainly never be that dumb.

  14. In every sector of our lives, unelected bureaucrats are running things. Sask power is a great example of this, double down and keep spending someone else’s money on completely unworkable schemes that they will never be accountable for! Every sector that the government touches is the same, whether it be education, medical, or just generally over regulating every part of our lives. Until we can have accountability in the systems we have, we will continue to go down stupid street!

  16. Apparently, both Calif and New York have plans for Wyoming Windmills to get better reliability. Those will need heroic extension cords, using lots of construction energy to scrape up a few crumbs.

  18. Its a bribe in the hopes that the feds won’t crack down too hard on fossil fuel energy and potash.

    1. The electrical energy the green machines produce is incidental. The real money is in the green credits and carbon offsets the machines create that are then sold and traded to offset the CO2 emissions from industry and from Justin flying all over the world. Some thing like papists selling “indulgences” during the middle ages that granted remission of punishment for sins. Can’t afford to buy the indulgences…sucks to be you.

  19. A billion dollar tax payer funded, virtue signalling grift. And if you can reward your corporate pals in the process, all the better. SaskPower needs grownups at the helm, people who actually know stuff… not ‘what’s his face’ from men’s wear or other cast members with dubious technical expertise. I only counted two who might be able to change a light bulb. I’m not sure how owning a golf course or being on Mike Ditka’s hall of fame qualifies you to be on the board of directors of SaskPower but I doubt it has anything to do with the best interests of Saskatchewans.
    Until such time…expect more of this. Moe’s got the juice to make it happen, if he doesn’t …all this middle fingering to the federales is huff ‘n’ puff bull shit.
    I only say this because the same thing happened in Ontario.
    Too harsh? Seriously, who gives a shit at this point.

  20. It’s not about power generation anymore. It’s about paying homage and being seen doing so to the Eco nuts and their lobby groups so they leave you alone when you actually build a power generation station running on coal or gas, to supply demand.

    1. Correct. Its the equivalent of back-room deals with envelopes of money. That being said, it’s disingenuous to cherry-pick one day as representative of a whole year.

  22. John Cadogan (a motoring video producer in Oz) refers to Mercedes as “Three Prong”

    One could borrow the term and adapt “Three coins in a fountain” to that scene, starting with (e.g.)

    “Three prongs on a mountain”

    1. And a reply to that on another blog –

      “So that’s what I’ve been missing all along. It always nagged away at me, you know ….. “what am I missing here?”

      Wind power.

      It’s got nothing to do with generating power

      It’s all just a subliminal advertisement for ….. Mercedes Benz!! “

  23. Wonderful contraptions,we must build more..
    Once they are fully erect we can add the missing parts..
    For while you naysayers see Wind Generators guaranteed to fail.

    I see future entertainment..
    Once we add on the feed systems ,via mechanical linkages to the blades, you will see the social Value of said Machines..

    A tip speed of 200mph is perfect for a rotary guillotine..
    Madame Guillotine’s new incarnation..
    Because?
    Its Our Heritage!.

    And the choice of who to exercise these modern wonders upon?
    They are self selecting..
    Those who know better than us,what we shall spend our lives doing..
    And know better than us,what we shall squander our resources upon..

    Who needs a colosseum?

  24. When green environmental engineers and technicians started falling out of University they needed jobs.. The government handed them tons of free money.. This money has gotten into the woodwork.. Its heavily subsidized.. So much so that the industry floats magically in the air.. Think nuclear on steroids..

    If you think this new class of professionals is just going to call it a day because their tech sucks.. You missed the huge pile of money..

  25. I don’t know what SK is doing but I made a tour through east central AB recently. It’s unbelievable the amount of wind power projects that are going on. It’s got to be all subsidy (taxpayer) money.

    Alberta is already the Canadian leader in solar and wind. Why?

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