North American power producers Capital Power Corporation and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) have agreed to examine the feasibility of developing grid-scale small modular reactors (SMRs) in Alberta.

While the feasibility assessment is set to be completed within the next two years, the next stages of SMR development will carry on, as a continuation of the joint strategic plan for the deployment of the nuclear technology released in 2022 by the governments of Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

Avik Dey, president and CEO of Capital Power, said: “We are at the forefront of electrification, which will drive continual growth in demand for power. The deployment of SMR technology will provide an important source of safe, reliable, flexible, affordable and clean baseload electricity in Alberta in the future.”

Capital Power already operates 7.7GW of power generation capacity at 30 facilities in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and ten US states, including renewable generation, natural gas and battery energy storage systems.

OPG is building North America’s first fleet of SMRs at its Darlington New Nuclear site in Ontario, according to a company press statement. The construction of the first four SMRs will be completed by the end of 2028, and the unit will be online by the end of 2029.

“With decades of experience building, operating and maintaining clean, safe nuclear power generation, OPG is pleased to work with Capital Power as they explore adding nuclear to Alberta’s electricity supply mix,” said Ken Hartwick, OPG president and CEO.

SMRs are smaller than traditional nuclear power plants, producing around a third of the energy. Owing to this diminutive size, they can be deployed in disparate locations unsuited to traditional plants. They can also save on cost and construction time as well as be deployed incrementally to match increasing energy demand.

Currently, around 15% of Canada’s electricity comes from nuclear power, with 19 reactors mostly based in Ontario providing 13.6GW of power.