FOCUS ON CANADA | SPLIT DECISION
Solving Canada’s low-carbon puzzle
Canada has 13 provinces and territories, each decision makers on their own energy future; some are betting big on nuclear energy
By Jacquie Hoornweg
CANADA IS A GEOGRAPHICALLY VAST country of almost 10 million square kilometres with a relatively small population (~41 million). That dichotomy, along with its natural wealth of fossil fuels, creates unique challenges as the country works to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement, its own legislated Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, and the changing expectations of world markets that increasingly factor in non-financial measures, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Decisions on energy policy, especially electricity, are
largely the purview of the country’s 13 diverse provinces and territories. They range in size from tiny Prince Edward Island at under 6,000 square kilometres to the vast 1.5 million of Quebec. Similarly, populations range from about 40,000 in the least populous territory (Nunavut) to about 16 million in Ontario, representing about 40% of the country’s population with related GDP. All to say, it is a country of diverse composition, climate,
cultures and energy needs, making a national energy strategy complex. Despite a wealth of clean electricity sources, including hydro in several provinces, electricity only accounts for about 20% of the total energy used in Canada. The remaining 80% comes primarily from fossil fuels.
Electrification is a major strategy for many provinces looking to decarbonise sectors like transportation, buildings and industry. Consequently, demand is spiking and existing electricity sources cannot keep up. Compounding this, several provinces are competing globally to become hubs for data centres, life sciences and the types of manufacturers, like automakers, which have high energy demands but now come looking not only for cheap power, but also low-carbon content. For many Canadian jurisdictions, that means taking a new look at nuclear energy. Now offered in a range of sizes and designs almost as diverse as the country itself, nuclear is gaining interest in corners of the country that had not previously considered it.
New nuclear options open possibilities Several major nuclear vendors are already marketing their products in Canada, spanning the size range from a 5 MW micro reactor up to traditional large-scale new build. Across the spectrum, they are being considered to support Canada’s biggest economies’ on-grid needs, regional power needs, heat and power to replace diesel in remote communities along with industrial-specific heat and power options for Canada’s resource extraction and heavy industry
Above: Ontario’s leaders have voiced ambitions to become an “energy superpower” by harnessing nuclear power 30 | November 2024 |
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