The Canadian Nuclear Security Fee says it has permitted a brief extension to function the Pickering Nuclear Producing Station till the top of 2026.
Ontario Energy Technology was beforehand allowed to function models 5 to eight at its Pickering, Ont., plant till the top of 2024.
The fee says its amended license contains an enhanced fitness-for-service program.
The province had requested OPG to hunt an extension of the plant’s service in 2022.
OPG can also be continuing with a plan to refurbish the Pickering plant that might see its life prolonged by a number of a long time because the province tries to safe extra electrical energy provide within the face of accelerating demand.
Vitality Minister Stephen Lecce says the information is welcome for Ontarians and the 4,500 staff on the plant.
“We have long believed that the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is essential to Ontario’s energy expansion plan, which is why we welcome the approval to extend the operation of one of the country’s best run generating stations and a critical source of affordable and non-emitting power for two million homes,” Lecce mentioned in a written assertion.
The Impartial Electrical energy System Operator has mentioned Ontario’s electrical energy demand is predicted to develop by about two per hundred annually, however may very well be even greater.
A promise by Premier Doug Ford to construct 1.5 million houses by 2031 and a number of other large-scale manufacturing investments, resembling electrical car battery vegetation, are pushing greater demand.
The IESO has mentioned the province wants extra power, particularly by the mid-2030s.
The Pickering plant produces about 14 per cent of the province’s electrical energy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Oct. 11, 2024.
