By Cecilia Nasmith/Northumberland 89.7 FM/Today’s Northumberland
Almost half a century after it was built and then left vacant, the Wesleyville hydro station is on the road to becoming the fourth nuclear-generating plant in Ontario.
The announcement was made Wednesday morning in one of its vacant buildings, with Port Hope Mayor Olena Hankivsky, Ontario Power Generation President and Chief Executive Officer Nicolle Butcher, Minister of Energy and Electrification Stephen Lecce and Northumberland-Peterborough MPP (and Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development) David Piccini in attendance.
“Remnants of the incomplete Wesleyville generaetion station serve as a reminder of a very different past – engagement collaboration and partnership were not prioritized like today,” Butcher said to the group gathered on an upper floor in the cold, cavernous building.
Lecce described the partners behind the new initiative as a dream team.
“Last November, I asked the OPG to begin discussions with municipal and Indigenous leaders to gauge support for new energy generation here in Port Hope,” Lecce said.
Wesleyville was constructed in the 1970s as an oil-powered power-generation plant, a project which required the acquisition of a great deal of land in the little hamlet and the vacating of a number of homes. Because of global pressures in the oil market, however, the plant was never used for that purpose.
The powerhouse and smokestacks stand silent witness to that wasted effort, he said.
“Today that silence ends.”
Lecce cited the need for more green and affordable power for such tangibles as more homes and transit as well as the larger economy.
“Ontario will need 75% more power by 2050 to meet that demand,” he stated (the equivalent of adding four and a half cities the size of Toronto to our electricity grid, Piccini said).
“There is the potential of up to 10,000 megawatts of new nuclear generation in Port Hope, enough power for 10-million homes and make it one of the larger nuclear-generation stations in the world – more than two times bigger than Darlington.”
Over its lifespan, Lecce estimated it could contribute $235-billion to the province’s GDP and support 10,500 new jobs across the province.
He said Wesleyville has potential to be a a cornerstone of Ontario’s Green Energy Strategy, working in partnership with municipal and Indigenous leaders.
“Both Port Hope and Williams Treaty First Nations have expressed interest in exploring new opportunities for new nuclear generation on this site. I have directed OPG to explore and advance new nuclear-energy generation”
The site is already zone for electricity generation, he noted, and it’s close to the growth that is taking hold in this region.
“I have instructed OPG to provide capacity and support to Williams Treaty First Nations, in addition to enjoying equity and participation in any energy generation,” he stated.
As for Port Hope, the municipality is getting $1-million to support early planning. Looking ahead, the municipality will be eligible for up to $30-million in funding to support infrastructure upgrades in the community “because we want local communities to see the benefit of this project now and over the 95-year lifespan of this project.”
Piccini acknowledged the project’s difficult past and exciting future.
“In an uncertain world, we need energy security. In a changing world, in a changing climate, we need green energy. In the communities we live in, we need reliable energy,” he said.
“The homes, the hospitals, the schools, the manufacturing, the vehicles we need – all this depends on having reliable base-load power.”
In addition to bringing billions of dollars to the Ontario economy, he said, it will provide 1,700 good-paying local jobs.
“This is a recession-proof reliable employer that will be incredibly beneficial to our future,” he stated.
A reporter from CTV reminded the ministers of the development deal Port Hope negotiated with the province in 2022 that was cancelled by the province within hours of the deal closing.
“I don’t think we are comparing apples and apples here,” Piccini said, noting that this deal involved the municipality purchasing the land and also seeking a loan from the province. Given the potential of this new initiative, he expressed confidence that the right decision had been made.
Questions about the eventual cost of the project could not be answered, the ministers agreed, because whatever form the finished product may take will be the result of negotiations among all the partners involved. But they expressed confidence that its benefits (not to mention its workforce) will deter succeeding governments from failing to follow through on the project.
This becomes an issue, as a minimum time frame of 10 to 15 years is foreseen before it becomes operational. Butcher noted that the Environmental Assessment process, for example, will take place in a three-to-five-year time frame.
