Climate change solutions

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are the next generation in nuclear technology. There are many possible designs under consideration around the world, many of them based on astonishing breakthroughs and new ideas.

SMRs will offer many of the benefits of traditional nuclear reactors: they’ll be able to generate electricity and heat with zero carbon emissions, and they operate around the clock under all weather conditions.

Unlike traditional reactors, they are easier to build and operate and they’re smaller — typically with a generating capacity under 300 MW (megawatts). For instance, a 20 MW reactor can power a mining operation or a 5 MW reactor could power a town of 5,000 people. This means they can help power industrial operations, cities, or even remote communities that currently run on diesel generators.

In 2019, the governments of Ontario, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance the development of SMRs — a major commitment to collaborate on this new carbon-free energy option.

And in 2020, OPG became the first utility in the world to take an ownership stake in a Micro Modular Reactor^TM at Chalk River Laboratories through a joint venture with Global First Power and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation.

OPG is also working with three grid-scale SMR technology developers – GE Hitachi, Terrestrial Energy, and X-Energy – to advance engineering and design work as part of efforts to identify options for future development. And, most recently, we announced the resumption of planning activities for a new nuclear build at the Darlington site with the goal of hosting a grid-size SMR by as early as 2028, pending regulatory approvals and licensing.

SMRs will be an important part of the energy sector’s efforts to reduce carbon. OPG’s leadership role is critical to the advancing and securing acceptance of SMRs, which we see as key to achieving Canada’s goal of net-zero by 2050.

Nuclear power remains one of our most effective tools in the fight against climate change because of its ability to produce clean, low-cost, near carbon-free baseload power 24/7, 365 days a year. About 60% of Ontario’s power is nuclear, which is a big reason why we are among the lowest carbon-intensive jurisdictions in the world.

Darlington Nuclear Refurbishment project

Refurbishing the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, one of Canada’s largest clean energy infrastructure projects, is critical to our climate plan. The four-unit station generates over 20% of Ontario’s electricity, or enough energy to power two million homes.

An independent report, prepared by Intrinsik Environmental Sciences, noted the continued operation of a refurbished Darlington Nuclear to 2055 will equal removing two million cars per year from Ontario’s roads by avoiding significant carbon emissions.

And a Conference Board of Canada report estimates the Darlington Refurbishment Project, and the added 30 plus years of operation, would generate a total of $89.9 billion in economic benefits for Ontario, create and maintain 14,200 jobs, and boost personal income by an average of $1.6 billion on an annual basis. Customers will also benefit from the station’s reliable supply of low-cost power.

The overall refurbishment project remains on track for completion by 2026.

Pickering optimization

The Pickering Nuclear Generating Station currently provides about 14% of Ontario’s electricity. Pickering's current licence includes operations to the end of 2024, followed by safe storage activities ending in 2028. OPG has subsequently submitted a Licence Amendment Application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), to request for the regulator’s approval to operate Pickering NGS Units 5-8 to December 31, 2026. For the latest information, visit out Operating Licences page.

Extending operations at Pickering allows OPG to maximize the station’s environmental and economic benefits. The station provides electricity consumers with low- cost energy, supports 4,500 high-quality jobs in Durham region, and avoids millions of tonnes of carbon emissions. Pickering also supplies about 20% of the world’s Cobalt-60 medical isotope.

Electrification refers to the process of switching parts of our economy that currently use fossil fuels (such as heating or transportation) to use electricity instead.

Because Ontario generates most of its electricity from nuclear and hydro, the carbon intensity of its electricity sector is very low — about 40 grams per kilowatt hour in 2022. California’s carbon intensity is more than seven times this amount and Germany is 12 times greater. The more of the economy we can get running on electricity, the lower our carbon emissions will be and the smaller our contribution to climate change.

More than 30% of Ontario’s carbon emissions come from transportation. Powering cars, trucks, trains, buses, and even boats with electricity, rather than gas or diesel, will make a significant impact.

OPG has taken a major step toward advancing transportation electrification through the Ivy Charging Network, an OPG-Hydro One partnership. Ivy will soon be the largest, most connected electric vehicle  (EV) fast-charger network in Ontario with 70+ sites by the end of 2021.

We are also partnering with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to electrify the province’s Amherst and Wolfe Island ferries.

While hydro has always been a major source of Ontario’s energy supply, several of our hydro facilities are over 100 years old and approaching end-of-life. OPG is committed to reinvesting in our hydroelectric fleet to sustain and, where possible, grow generation from this clean, renewable power source in the years and decades ahead.

In addition to investing in Ontario’s hydro generation facilities, OPG owns of 85 hydro facilities in the United States. We will continue to look to grow this portfolio and increase generation at our US facilities. By supporting the United States’ transition to a cleaner energy mix, OPG can make a further contribution toward carbon reductions.

Adaptation starts with strengthening our assets and operations against climate related impacts. These efforts also reduce the impacts on our host communities.  We are also looking at using nature-based protection measures like building wetlands to mitigate against extreme events like flooding and wildfires.

Beyond updating traditional technologies and processes, we will also continue to integrate climate science and modelling into our investment decision and engineering processes, when considering future design and asset upgrades. Getting ahead of Ontario’s climate risks will strengthen the electricity grid’s resiliency, which in turn will help decarbonize the broader economy.

Our commitment to you is to ensure our operations are resilient to the impacts of a changing climate, and to do our part to ensure the ongoing safety of our host communities.

Advancements in renewable technologies, such as wind and solar, have made these sources more cost effective.  However, their intermittent nature creates inherent reliability challenges for the system, where the supply of energy and demand must be continually balanced.

As Ontario’s demand for electricity increases, and if the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is retired, the need for additional generation may be filled, at least in part, by solar and wind generation, which could be supplemented by energy storage. The fast-acting nature of energy storage technologies also allows them to provide other services for the grid that improve reliability.

These challenges can be partially overcome by pairing renewable sources with energy storage technologies to increase reliability, especially during periods of peak demand.  For example, distributed solar and wind generation may be backed up by local storage facilities to increase local reliability and/or to save on transmission and distribution investment.  We see this as an important part of meeting future system needs, particularly if Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is no long operating.

OPG has considerable expertise in solar and storage development, having recently converted the coal- fired Nanticoke Generating Station into a 44 MW solar facility in partnership with Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We also helped develop an off-grid solar and storage micro grid for the Gull Bay First Nation community, and two other energy storage facilities that manage industrial companies’ peak energy consumption.

OPG will continue to explore opportunities to contribute to a cleaner grid through the development of renewables and energy storage.

Negative emissions technologies, or those technologies that remove and sequester carbon from the environment, will form an important part of the world’s overall climate solution. One such technology is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) – which captures carbon emissions at the source — such as a natural gas generating station — and stores them underground in suitable geological formations. CCS can dramatically reduce the carbon that is released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.

OPG’s ongoing partnership and collaboration with the MaRS Discovery District provides us access to emerging clean technology companies for ongoing collaboration. In the future, we may apply CCS at our gas generating stations when it becomes technically and economically viable.

Climate change and biodiversity are interconnected.  We protect the environment throughout the course of our oprerations and continue to invest in biodiversity by retaining, restoring and enhancing natural habitats at our sites and in the communities were biodiversity is under threat. This means more than giving plants and animals a place to live. As plants grow, they pull carbon out of the atmosphere, offsetting the release of climate change-causing greenhouse gases.

We’ve planted more than 8 million native trees and shrubs, and we’ll plant millions more before 2040. We’re also working to restore wetlands. These nature-based solutions to climate change are an important part of our plan.

Although this may sound counterintuitive, natural gas generation will play an important role in transitioning off of fossil fuels.

Renewable sources like solar and wind are intermittent by nature so they require a backup source that can be dispatched to meet ever-changing electricity demands.  Future breakthroughs in energy storage may make it technically feasible and economical on a mass scale to rely more on renewables; but for now, natural gas remains their enabler and an important part of our climate change plan.

Having flexible natural gas to back up renewables provides the system stability and reliability needed to continue to evolve.  OPG operates one dual-fired oil/gas generating station and, through our subsidiary Atura Power, four combined-cycle natural gas generating stations.  We will look for opportunities to reduce emissions at these stations, including exploring innovative measures like carbon capture.