Small modular reactors (SMR) intended to bring nuclear energy and meet the demand for clean energy and energy security have been announced for Alberta.
In a statement, Capital Power Corporation and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) said it signed an agreement to jointly assess the development and deployment of grid-scale SMRs to nuclear energy for Alberta.
It’s an attempt to meet the growing demand for clean energy and energy security, according to the companies.
Through the agreement, OPG and Capital Power Corporation will examine the feasibility of developing SMRs in Alberta, including possible ownership and operating structures.
No date has been announced as to when they will be built.
“Small modular reactors have the potential to play a major role in the province’s search for the right energy mix to supply clean, reliable and affordable electricity to Albertans,” Nathan Neudorf, Alberta’s minister of affordability and utilities, said in a statement.
“This partnership represents an exciting and important step forward in our efforts to decarbonize the grid while maintaining on-demand baseload power.”
Capital Power and OPG will complete the feasibility assessment within two years, while continuing to work on the next stages of SMR development.
OPG is building North America’s first fleet of SMRs at its Darlington New Nuclear site in Ontario.
The construction of the first of four SMRs in Ontario will be completed by the end of 2028, and the unit will be online by the end of 2029.
Editors note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the first of the four SMRs in Alberta will be built by 2028. It’s the reactors in Ontario that will be built by then.