November 22, 2023 – Ontario Power Generation and its subsidiary, Laurentis Energy Partners, announced they will collaborate with SaskPower to advance Saskatchewan’s small modular reactor (SMR) development project.

“[OPG and Laurentis] bring decades of combined experience in the Canadian nuclear industry, and this expertise is something that will be extremely valuable as part of our SMR development project,” said SaskPower’s president & CEO, Rupen Pandya, adding that the best path forward for the utility’s clean energy transition “is through collaboration.”

The Laurentis-SaskPower agreement—which runs for up to five years—builds on a strong relationship between Ontario and Saskatchewan, says OPG, and serves as a foundation for a long-term strategic partnership to streamline SMR development in Saskatchewan.

Under the agreement, Laurentis will focus on program management, licensing, and operational readiness activities.

“Through these agreements, we are using a fleet-style approach, which will increase efficiency and decrease costs as we deploy much-needed new nuclear generation in both provinces,” said OPG president & CEO Ken Hartwick.

OPG and SaskPower have selected the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR for potential deployment.

SaskPower has begun the work of identifying suitable sites for a nuclear facility to potentially add the province’s first SMR to Saskatchewan’s electricity supply mix in the mid-2030s. (The province will decide whether to proceed in 2029.)

OPG, meantime, is building North America’s first fleet of SMRs in Darlington. The first of four SMRs will be completed by the end of 2028, and online by the end of 2029.