Ontario Nuclear Update - November 27th, 2024

[OVERKILL]

Ontario's ministry of energy has officially announced that it has directed OPG to start engagement with municipalities and indigenous groups on the development of 3x sites that OPG already owns, for future power generation production, including new nuclear. Ultimately, given the size of these sites, the options are pretty much either nuclear or natural gas, and there would be outrage if it's the latter, which leaves only the former.

The sites are:
- Wesleyville (east of Darlington, in Port Hope, was supposed to be an oil plant, was half built, never operated, later re-zoned as nuclear)
- Lambton (Lake Huron, south of Bruce, former coal plant)
- Nanticoke (Lake Erie, former home of the world's largest coal plant)

Reactor choice will likely be the new CANDU Monark.

Site development will likely start at 4 units, with the potential for more. Nanticoke was an 8-unit plant. How they will be developed, and in what sequence is yet to be determined. I expect Bruce C to be developed first, since it's further along.

OPG page on this development here:
https://www.opg.com/projects-services/projects/new-generation-opportunities/

Ontario government announcement here:
https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1005403/ontario-generating-more-energy-to-meet-soaring-demand

 

[OneLonelyBurrito]

Do you see them considering Small Modular Reactors instead of the CANDU Monark? Based on my quick googling CANDU Monark appears to be a full sized nuclear reactor correct?

 

[OVERKILL]

Do you see them considering Small Modular Reactors instead of the CANDU Monark? Based on my quick googling CANDU Monark appears to be a full sized nuclear reactor correct?

No, seems unlikely. Large units are more economic per MW of procured capacity. We are building 4x SMR's at Darlington so that we get to be the export partner for that design, beyond that, they are not well suited for a grid the size of Ontario's, it's just too big.

 

[OneLonelyBurrito]

No, seems unlikely. Large units are more economic per MW of procured capacity. We are building 4x SMR's at Darlington so that we get to be the export partner for that design, beyond that, they are not well suited for a grid the size of Ontario's, it's just too big.

Gotcha, was just curious since full size reactors construction hasn't exactly gone to plan in the US and it seems like SMRs could solve the construction problems.

 

[OVERKILL]

Gotcha, was just curious since full size reactors construction hasn't exactly gone to plan in the US and it seems like SMRs could solve the construction problems.

Yeah, good question for sure. The last two CANDU's constructed were at Qinshan in China and were 4 years shovel-to-breaker. We have contracts now to build two more units in Romania at Cernavoda (units 3/4) and Qinshan (units III-3/III-4), so the CANDU machine will already be in motion by the time we start on these.