SaskPower’s lifeboat: Boundary Dam Unit 4 is being recertified, will be kept in cold standby

SaskPower officially retired Boundary Dam Unit 4 way back on the last day of 2021. But several times, the old unit has been brought back out of mothballs to deal with power shortages since then. This included some very cold winter days as well as the summer flooding that took out Poplar River Power Station. In a very real way, BD4 has acted as a lifeboat to get the Crown utility out of a jam.

Boundary Dam Unit 4 in August, 2023. Photo by Brian Zinchuk

Pipeline Online had been hearing some rumors that it might be totally taken out of service soon, and inquired to SaskPower about that is going on. This was the response from SaskPower media relations, emailed on Sept. 30:

“Boundary Dam Unit 4 has been officially retired since 2022. As you know, we have kept this unit in cold-standby mode in the event of an emergency since that time. This means that the unit is not generating electricity, but it can be restarted if needed.

“SaskPower intends to keep BD4 in cold-standby mode, but in order to maintain this option, we need to shut the unit down to perform the necessary work required to recertify a number of components within the facility. This ensures that the unit meets regulated standards and is ready to operate if required.”

Asked if some recertifications will be done, but it will be returned to cold standby, just in case? SaskPower replied, “Yes, that is correct.”