Dr. Conca reports that led by Ontario, Canada is looking to fill their looming energy supply gap, and address climate change, by building a fleet of the new super-safe small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) over the next 20 years. Ontario electricity supply is quite low-carbon already, with about 60% nuclear and 20% hydropower, with natural gas about 10%. Canada overall is about 60% hydropower and 16% nuclear, with the rest spread out among coal, gas and wind. At 50 grams of CO2 per kWh, Canada is one of the cleanest grids in the world. Aggressive targets for further reducing carbon emissions from Ontario resulted in 7 GW of coal-fired generation closing between 2005 and 2014.
The province largest utility, Ontario Power Generation, replaced all its coal with renewable energy backed-up by natural gas, plus life extensions of almost 7 GW of existing nuclear power. In October 2016, Ontario Power Generation started a US$9.6 billion refurbishment project at its 3.5 GW Darlington nuclear plant to extend the lifespan by 30 years. Bruce Power has also begun a US$10 billion life-extension project for its 6.3 GW nuclear plant northwest of Toronto. The utility plans to close its older 3 GW Pickering nuclear plant in 2024, so it needs new carbon-free power to ensure Ontario meets its 2030 goal to cut carbon emissions by 37% below 1990 levels, and its even more ambitious 2050 goal of being 80% below 1990 levels.
Original URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/04/26/canada-aims-for-a-fleet-of-small-modular-nukes/#4876610830a8
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