30 January 2023
The first commercial contract for a grid-scale small modular reactor (SMR) in North America sees Ontario Power Generation (OPG), GE Hitachi (GEH), SNC-Lavalin and Aecon team up in an innovative integrated project delivery model to develop, engineer and construct a BWRX-300 at OPG’s Darlington New Nuclear Project.
L-R: Hartwick, Wileman, SNC-Lavalin SNC President, Nuclear Joe St Julian and Clochard at the livestreamed signing (Image: OPG on Twitter)
The six-year alliance will see each company playing a specific role in the project, which aims to complete construction of the unit by late 2028 and to begin supplying power to the grid in 2029. Each partner will have a specific role: OPG will be the licence holder, with overall responsibility for the project; GEH will be the technology developer; SNC-Lavalin will be the architect engineer; and Aecon will be the constructor.
OPG President and CEO Ken Hartwick said the agreement put together by the four companies is “truly innovative” and will also guide future nuclear projects both in Canada and globally. OPG is already working in partnership with SNC-Lavalin and Aecon on the refurbishment of its existing Darlington nuclear power plant, and “a lot of learnings” from that have been factored in to the new project, he said.
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