The Ontario government’s contract with Bruce Power to restart units at the Bruce A nuclear generating station will limit the amount of wind power that can connect in the region, and expose the province to significant penalties if additional needed transmission is not built in time, says Greenpeace Canada. “The documents we obtained indicate that additional nuclear capacity will use almost all the existing transmission capacity, and wind power in the Bruce region will be capped at 1000 MW,” says Greenpeace’s Shawn-Patrick Stensil.
According to documents acquired by Greenpeace under Freedom of Information legislation and reported in today’s Toronto Star, the McGuinty government’s decision to sign a $4 billion contract with Bruce Power to restart ageing nuclear reactors may cost Ontarians billions of dollars in penalty charges. These costs will come into effect if the government is unable to build transmission lines from the Bruce station to Toronto for the increased electricity generation. In order to build additional transmission lines in time, the McGuinty government will need to bypass community consultations and environmental approvals.
Said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Energy Campaigner with Greenpeace Canada, “The McGuinty government knowingly signed a deal with Bruce Power that will block the development of the wind power Ontarians want and could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The Liberal government gives lip-service to green energy, but when you follow the money it’s all about nuclear power.”
The documents outline two transmission options – either a new $600 million transmission line, or an upgrade of the existing one. It is admitted that “either options does not guarantee new transmission will be in place by the 2009/2012 requirement.” The documents indicate that to meet the deadlines of the Bruce deal, the construction of transmission lines “will require streamlining of approvals.” The documents also make clear the huge economic risk to Ontarians if electricity is ‘stranded’ at the Bruce nuclear site with insufficient transmission capacity to send it to market, stating that “Under contract with Bruce, cost to Ontario for stranding one nuclear unit is $460 million per year.”
Bruce is known to be one of the best regions for wind development in Ontario. Without multi-billion dollar repairs the 8 reactors at the Bruce nuclear station would shut down over the next 10 to 15 years, freeing up transmission space for the full development of wind power in the Bruce region.
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