The CEO of one of the two companies developing small modular nuclear technology in New Brunswick says the new reactors can be a key piece in decarbonizing the electricity grid, but admits the province will need more than just nuclear to fulfill it’s post 2030 power needs.
Bill Labbe, CEO of ARC Clean Energy kicked off two days of hearings on the development of small modular reactors, or SMRs, in the province at the legislature’s climate change committee. He says that the company is still on track to have its first reactor up and running at Point Lepreau in 2029, but that won’t provide enough power to replace the shutdown of the province’s coal generating station in 2030.
“There’s a significant shortfall in megawatts. You look at the retirement of units across the Atlantic provinces, that shortfall will require hundreds of units of new generation,” he told reporters after his presentation to the committee.
When the federal government’s mandated moratorium on coal power generation takes effect in 2030, the province will need an additional 450 MW of electricity capacity to replace the Belledune generating station.
ARC’s sodium-cooled SMR design will provide 100 MW of power once finished.
Right now the additional reactor at the existing Point Lepreau nuclear site is ARC’s only unit being planned to provide power to the grid. The company is also planning to build eight or nine reactors at the Port of Belledune for hydrogen production as part of a new “green energy hub.”
Opponents say the timelines and cost of SMRs are a key reason to steer clear of the technology. Susan O’Donnell spoke on behalf of the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development (CRED), citing research that questions the feasibility of the generation IV reactors being developed by ARC and Moltex, the other SMR company based in the province.
O’Donnell said the technology, even at the most optimistic estimates, won’t be ready to provide the amount of non-emitting power the province will need as it moves towards net-zero in 2050 and is a distraction from already existing renewable and storage technologies.
“These are technologies that are very speculative and they have never worked in a commercial setting,” she said.
“If you’re going to compare the two, why not go with the technology that actually works?”
During O’Donnell’s presentation to the committee, energy and natural resources minister Mike Holland questioned if the storage technology needed to run a renewable based grid is any closer than SMR technology.
“Storage for renewables is as far out on a trajectory on a cost effective basis as SMRs, so what you’re talking about doing is something that’s unrealistic for the current age,” he said.
O’Donnell says that storage, while expensive right now, will only improve and get cheaper over time. But ultimately, one of her largest concerns is that the province is failing to prepare for what happens if SMRs don’t work out.
“It’s really not up to us a volunteer group to come up with a plan B. This is what NB Power should be doing, this is what the ministry should be doing — how are we going to get there?” she said.
“Right now we’re only presented with plan A, which is SMRs. We need to have (the minister) present plan a and plan b to the public and then we can have a choice.”
ARC has received about $25 million in provincial and federal funding over the last few years. Labbe said the company will need about half a billion to finish the development work of the reactor, but the company isn’t planning on soliciting additional public funding and is instead turning to the private capital market, looking to raise $100 million this year.
NB Power won’t be on the hook for building the facility either, he says. Instead, the utility and the company are looking to sign a power purchase agreement with the facility being funded by private infrastructure banks. It’s expected the reactor at Point Lepreau will cost $600 million.
Moltex, which is designing a molten salt reactor, and NB Power are scheduled to appear before the committee on Wednesday.
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