The former site of North America’s largest coal-fired power plant could one day host a nuclear station.
Nanticoke in Haldimand County is one of three properties owned by Ontario Power Generation currently under consideration by the Ford government as locations for future power plants to meet Ontario’s rising need for energy.
At its height, the Nanticoke Generating Station generated 4,000 megawatts of electricity. The coal-fired plant was decommissioned in 2013 after a four-decade run as one of Canada’s most important power producers — and one of the country’s largest single sources of pollution.
Last week, Energy Minister Stephen Lecce named the property on the shores of Lake Erie as a possible future home for a new power plant.
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Along with Nanticoke, the province is looking at Lambton in St. Clair and Wesleyville in Port Hope.
All three southern Ontario properties are already zoned for electricity generation and are located near transmission lines and areas expected to see what Lecce called “soaring demand” for electricity to power manufacturing facilities, data centres, artificial intelligence programs and electric vehicle charging stations.
Lecce did not specify what types of power plants the province wants to build, but the ministry has said nuclear and gas plants are on the table.
Ontario can meet the projected demand for energy until 2035, but the province must add an additional 16,000 megawatts by 2050, by which point the Independent Electricity System Operator predicts demand will have risen 75 per cent from current levels.
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To meet what he called a “generational challenge,” Lecce has directed OPG to hold exploratory talks to gauge the interest of the three chosen municipalities and nearby First Nations.
Independent Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady said Nanticoke being under consideration for a power plant should put to…