A Canadian firm is bringing safe, clean, and reliable power to Canada’s Ontario province and the Czech Republic. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) formally signed a memorandum of understanding with its Czech counterpart ČEZ.
The firms formally signed a memorandum of agreement at ČEZ’s headquarters in Prague on Tuesday. OPG president and CEO Ken Hartwick and Tomáš Pleskač of the ČEZ board of directors signed the document.
Czech Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Petr Třešňák and Canadian Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ayesha Patricia Rekhi officially witnessed the event.
What Does This Partnership Entail?
The memorandum of understanding between the two power companies involves their collaboration on the deployment of state-of-the-art nuclear technology. It deals with arrangements for using small modular reactors (SMRs) in key locations. These reactors will produce a reliable stream of electricity within their jurisdictions.
In Canada, OPG aims to install and deploy an SMR at its facility in Darlington. It has engaged Niagara Falls-based construction company, ES Fox, to begin basic site work. These will commence once permits and regulatory approvals have been issued. OPG hopes to have its SMR up and running by the end of the current decade.
ČEZ, on the other hand, has planned for three new nuclear facilities within the Czech Republic. Space has already been allocated for the country’s first SMR at the company’s nuclear power plant in Temelin. The company’s nuclear facility in Dukovany is also slated to be fitted out with an SMR of its own.
For his part, OPG’s Hartwick says that working with like-minded companies like their Czech counterpart enables his company to leverage shared experiences to develop and create new technologies to ensure communities have ample power in the future. Moreover, the said energy has been generated in a safe, environment-friendly manner, essentially helping the country meet its decarbonization goals.
Pleskac, on the other hand, remarked that his company has long focused on the development of energy solutions that are both renewable and carbon-free. To him, collaborating with Hartwick and OPG is a logical step forward in bringing their country closer to its net-zero goals.
Likewise, Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith stated that he is proud that his constituency is leading the way in clean nuclear technologies. He added that this is their way of supporting the global deployment of nuclear expertise to push the goal of global energy security forward.
