“I believe in climate change,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters ahead of the 2022 general election. “And we’re doing everything to prevent it by building electric vehicles, having investment into the battery plants.”
Ford tacked his climate credentials to major spending promises for Ontario’s green economy.
Alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in the run-up to June’s election, he announced spending packages focused on electric vehicles, including in Alliston, Brampton and Windsor.
However, upcoming closures and renovations at Ontario nuclear power plants could reduce the environmental benefits of Ford’s plan.
A decrease in nuclear-generated electricity through the 2020s will see more natural gas — a fossil fuel — used to create electricity that will power zero-emissions buses and cars.
“Ontario had already made huge progress by getting rid of the coal plants (in 2014),” Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence, told Global News. “The idea of shutting a nuclear reactor and building a fossil fuel plant is insane … it doesn’t make any sense at all.”
He suggested the province should instead focus its spending on renewable alternatives that are “emissions free and cheaper.”
One report by an Ontario crown corporation predicts the switch from nuclear to gas will see the province’s electric-generation emissions grow 177 per cent by 2030.
Over the next decade, one of the province’s nuclear power stations will close its doors for good, while others will undergo renovations and temporary shutdowns.
Todd Smith, Ontario Minister of Energy, told Global News his priority was ensuring Ontario had an electricity grid that is “stable, reliable, affordable and one that’s clean.”
Pressed on the increased reliance on gas — and its emissions — Smith said reliability was his top priority.
“We have to make sure that it’s affordable and we have to make sure that it’s reliable,” he said.
The Pickering Power Generation Station will be retired, beginning in 2024, under the current term of Ford’s re-elected PCs. Refurbishments will mean “long-term outages” at both Darlington and Bruce nuclear power stations.
The province “is moving forward with plans to build Canada’s first (Small Modular Reactor or ‘SMR’) at the Darlington site, pending regulatory approvals from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.”
According to the Government of Ontario’s website, “SMRs are nuclear reactors that are significantly smaller and more flexible than conventional nuclear reactors.”
The Pickering plant was responsible for around 14 per cent of Ontario’s electricity last year.
“We pretty much need natural gas to make up for the shortfall, certainly in the medium-term,” Zeb Tate, associate professor in the department of electrical computer engineering at the University of Toronto, told Global News.
A quote from Smith, Minister of Energy, on the Ontario Power Generation (OPG)’s website describes nuclear power as “the backbone of Ontario’s clean electricity grid.”
Nuclear reactors are the joint-largest source of electricity in Ontario, according to Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the crown corporation responsible for the electric market.
A total of 26 per cent of installed capacity comes from nuclear, alongside 26 per cent from gas. Hydroelectric power accounts for 23 per cent, while wind and solar makeup 14 and seven per cent respectively.
Nuclear power station shut downs will leave Ontario relying on gas to generate electricity | Globalnews.ca
Ford tacked his climate credentials to major spending promises for Ontario’s green economy.
Alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in the run-up to June’s election, he announced spending packages focused on electric vehicles, including in Alliston, Brampton and Windsor.
However, upcoming closures and renovations at Ontario nuclear power plants could reduce the environmental benefits of Ford’s plan.
A decrease in nuclear-generated electricity through the 2020s will see more natural gas — a fossil fuel — used to create electricity that will power zero-emissions buses and cars.
“Ontario had already made huge progress by getting rid of the coal plants (in 2014),” Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence, told Global News. “The idea of shutting a nuclear reactor and building a fossil fuel plant is insane … it doesn’t make any sense at all.”
He suggested the province should instead focus its spending on renewable alternatives that are “emissions free and cheaper.”
One report by an Ontario crown corporation predicts the switch from nuclear to gas will see the province’s electric-generation emissions grow 177 per cent by 2030.
Over the next decade, one of the province’s nuclear power stations will close its doors for good, while others will undergo renovations and temporary shutdowns.
Todd Smith, Ontario Minister of Energy, told Global News his priority was ensuring Ontario had an electricity grid that is “stable, reliable, affordable and one that’s clean.”
Pressed on the increased reliance on gas — and its emissions — Smith said reliability was his top priority.
“We have to make sure that it’s affordable and we have to make sure that it’s reliable,” he said.
The Pickering Power Generation Station will be retired, beginning in 2024, under the current term of Ford’s re-elected PCs. Refurbishments will mean “long-term outages” at both Darlington and Bruce nuclear power stations.
The province “is moving forward with plans to build Canada’s first (Small Modular Reactor or ‘SMR’) at the Darlington site, pending regulatory approvals from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.”
According to the Government of Ontario’s website, “SMRs are nuclear reactors that are significantly smaller and more flexible than conventional nuclear reactors.”
The Pickering plant was responsible for around 14 per cent of Ontario’s electricity last year.
“We pretty much need natural gas to make up for the shortfall, certainly in the medium-term,” Zeb Tate, associate professor in the department of electrical computer engineering at the University of Toronto, told Global News.
A quote from Smith, Minister of Energy, on the Ontario Power Generation (OPG)’s website describes nuclear power as “the backbone of Ontario’s clean electricity grid.”
Nuclear reactors are the joint-largest source of electricity in Ontario, according to Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the crown corporation responsible for the electric market.
A total of 26 per cent of installed capacity comes from nuclear, alongside 26 per cent from gas. Hydroelectric power accounts for 23 per cent, while wind and solar makeup 14 and seven per cent respectively.
Nuclear power station shut downs will leave Ontario relying on gas to generate electricity | Globalnews.ca
