Southern Sask. community receives $550,000 to pursue alternative uses for coal

Half a million dollars in funding has been announced for the town of Coronach and the rural municipality of Hart Butte to support new coal-based opportunities.

The $550,000 will be used to advance research into char production and utilization, in partnership with the University of Regina.

The funding comes at a time when provinces across Canada are expected to phase out coal by 2030.

“As a result of the federal government’s decision to decommission all coal power stations, the Government of Saskatchewan is committed to helping the areas of the province that will be most impacted by the closure of coal plants, and that’s exactly what this funding will do,” Agriculture Minister David Marit said.

Current federal regulations require all coal-fired power stations to be decommissioned after 50 years of operation, or to close by 2030, whichever comes first. The impacts will be felt across southern Saskatchewan, where three power stations, two mines and hundreds of jobs are located.

A pilot project by Videre Energy will focus on taking lignite coal and converting it to low greenhouse gas emission products that can be used in energy and agriculture.

The two communities receiving funding are members of South Saskatchewan Ready, an economic alliance of nine rural communities and municipalities in south-central Saskatchewan.

South Saskatchewan Ready has identified Videre Energy’s pilot project as a priority coal transition economic driver for the area.

“The technology presented by Videre Energy will take lignite coal and convert it to low greenhouse gas emission products that can support the energy and agriculture sectors,” the province said in a press release.

“The Videre lignite demonstration plant represents a way forward with the potential to mitigate the negative economic impacts of the federal mandate to close the Poplar River Power Station in 2030,” Coronach Mayor Calvin Martin said.

The government of Saskatchewan invested $10 million into Estevan and Coronach in 2020 to aid their transitions away from coal-based industries.