Ontario Power Generation plans to build three additional small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Darlington nuclear site.
If successful, the utility’s plan will raise the number of SMRs at Darlington to four, a press release indicates. Ontario Power Generation (OPG), GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, SNC-Lavalin, and Aecon are building Canada’s first SMR at Darlington. The Canada Infrastructure Bank is financing the project with $970 million.
They hope to complete the Darlington New Nuclear Project by late 2028. The New Nuclear Project is the construction of a GE Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR.
Three additional SMRs will produce 1,200 megawatts of electricity, an Ontario Ministry of Energy press claims. This electricity can power 1.12 million homes. The Darlington New Nuclear Project can produce 280 megawatts of electricity. Hence, the BWRX-300 SMR could power 280,000 homes, if the ministry is accurate.
The press release does not say who will build the additional SMRs or what brand of SMR they will use. Presumably, OPG will buy more BWRX-300s from GE Hitachi.
Ontario Electricity Use could rise by Eight Trillion Watts
Ontario needs more electricity because the province could add 1.5 million homes by 2031, Energy Minister Todd Smith speculates. Smith also points to the growing use of electric vehicles as another justification for SMRs.
Additionally, Smith hopes that steel plants in Hamilton and Sault Ste. Marie will transition from coal to electricity, the CBC reports. He also thinks battery manufacturers in Windsor and St. Thomas Ontario will need more electricity.
“These five investments alone are going to increase annual electricity demand by eight terawatt hours a year,” Smith claims. A Terawatt Hour is one trillion watts an hour. Hence, Smith thinks Ontario’s electricity use could grow by eight trillion watts.
“How much is that, you say?” asks Smith. “Well, that’s the equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of the Ottawa region.”
Ontario will need to double its Electricity Production
To meet that demand, Ontario will need to double its electricity production from 42,000 megawatt hours today to 88,000 megawatts in 2050, the Energy Ministry speculates. The Independent Electricity System Operator’s Pathways to Decarbonization Report speculates Ontario will need to add 17,800 megawatts of electricity by 2050.
To provide that electricity, the energy ministry wants to build Canada’s first new large nuclear plant in 30 years, the CBC reports. They will build the new reactor at Bruce Power at Kincardine on Lake Huron near Tiverton, Ontario. Bruce Power already operates two generating stations with eight reactors ate the site.
The proposed reactor will generate 4,800 megawatts of electricity which could power 4.8 million homes, Smith claims. This will double Bruce Power’s generation capacity.
OPG hopes to have the three additional SMRs at Darlington operating between 2034 and 2036. They will need approval from the Ontario Government and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to begin construction.
The SMRS will be built at the Darlington New Nuclear Site in the in the Durham Region 70 kilometers east of Toronto. The site is next to OPG’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. Darlington generates 3,512 megawatts of electricity or 20% of Ontario’s electricity.
Theoretically, SMRs are cheaper and easier to build than traditional reactors because they construct them with factory-built components. The BWRX-300 SMR is a water-cooled reactor.
Currently, the Darlington New Nuclear Project is the only SMR under construction in North America.
