Ontario is working toward filling all of the province’s quickly growing electricity needs with emissions-free sources, including a plan to secure new renewable generation, but isn’t quite ready to commit to a moratorium on natural gas.
The strategy also includes two nuclear projects announced last week – a new, large-scale nuclear plant at Bruce Power on the shore of Lake Huron and three new small modular reactors at the site of the Darlington nuclear plant east of Toronto. “Hopefully the federal government can get on board with our intentions to build this clean generation as quickly as possible … That will put us in a much better position to use our natural gas facilities less in the future, if we can get those new projects online.”
Ontario is also looking at two new pump storage projects, in which water is pumped into a reservoir when electricity demand is low, then released through a turbine to generate electricity when demand is higher. Pump storage can dispatch energy for eight hours, versus four for current battery storage, Smith said.