SaskEnergy wins three CGA Awards for Environmental Stewardship
Sustainability is at the core of what we do at SaskEnergy, and we were honoured to receive three Environmental Stewardship Awards from the Canadian Gas Association (CGA) in recognition of our efforts.
Two of the awards were for Innovation in Emissions Reduction, and one was for Operating Practices.
“These important projects are proof of our commitment to environmental sustainability and stewardship. They also contribute to our goal to reduce emissions from operations by 35 per cent by 2030,” says Mark Guillet, SaskEnergy’s Acting President and Chief Executive Officer.
CGA Environmental Stewardship Award for Operating Practices: Environmental Screening Tool
SaskEnergy has revolutionized the way it protects the environment and cultural resources, by finding innovative ways to screen distribution projects for environmental, heritage and geotechnical concerns.
The Environmental Screening Tool is a piece of custom-built software that allows teams throughout SaskEnergy to pre-screen projects for factors including natural vegetation, rare and endangered species, protected lands, and First Nations communities. The tool analyzes projects against 25 data layers each time it is run.
So far, the tool has screened nearly 6,000 projects ranging from major rural gasification projects to small maintenance projects in urban and rural settings.
CGA Environmental Stewardship Award for Innovation in Emissions Reduction: Vented Gas Capture on Transmission Compressor Engines
To minimize SaskEnergy’s environmental footprint, a groundbreaking new technology has been applied to SaskEnergy’s transmission compressors, capturing vented natural gas and redirecting it into the engine air intake for use as a supplemental fuel source.
Transmission compressors help make natural gas flow through our system to your home or business.
This technology, called SlipStream, reduces our methane emitted into the atmosphere and cuts down on the amount of fuel needed to operate our compressors, which also saves money.
SaskEnergy trialed the technology on two mobile compressors at the Success Compressor Station in 2016. The technology was fairly new at the time, but it showed potential as a way to help reduce emissions from transmission engines.
SlipStream has now been installed on the majority of SaskEnergy’s operating compressors and installations will continue until the entire fleet is optimized. This technology has the potential to save up to 10 per cent of fuel when installed on larger compressors.
CGA Environmental Stewardship Award for Innovation in Emissions Reduction: Customer Efficiency Programs
Our energy efficiency programs are continuing to help customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage.
SaskEnergy offers rebates to customers who replace old natural gas equipment with eligible high-efficiency models. The residential program began in 2019 with rebates for furnaces, but has since expanded to include boilers, combi-boilers, heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) and water heaters. Rebates in the commercial program were also updated to align with eligible equipment requirements in the residential program.
As a result of the expanded energy efficiency rebate programs, customer emissions savings in 2020-21 were five times higher than those in 2018-19. Over those three years, the total emissions savings from equipment replaced was more than 16,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2). Savings increased again in 2021-22 thanks to residential rebates being offered year-round.
At SaskEnergy, we provide critical energy for a greener Saskatchewan, and we are committed to reducing our emissions from operations by 35 per cent by 2030.
