Cathy Dobson/The Independent

Courtright’s former Lambton Generating Station site could be the first in Ontario where electricity is generated in three distinct ways along with battery storage, say officials with the Ontario Power Generation.

The Environmental Assessment (EA) process is moving ahead already for a natural gas facility and community meetings have started to establish local “buy in.” But the former LGS site is also being considered for small module nuclear reactors and a hydrogen plant. There’s also space available at the same site for a battery storage facility, said Andrea Brown, OPG’s director of Strategy and Business Development.

“There’s a lot of potential. It would be quite unique,” she said.

The EA and approvals process for a nuclear or hydrogen facility would be entirely separate from the process for natural gas, she added.

The former LGS site was identified for potential nuclear generation as far back as the 1960s.“ The site is very well studied, which is why there is such confidence that we can build something industrial there again,” said David Donovan, Vice President of Strategy for OPG.

In the ‘60s, the Ontario government pinpointed seven sites for nuclear plants – including the LGS site along the St. Clair River – and has built on three of them. As interest in nuclear power increases, the LGS site is being revisited because it’s already known that it is well-suited with its proximity to water for cooling, its proximity to transmission lines, and its optimum geological conditions.

“I really think this site is a bit of a gem,” said Donovan. “We want to make sure we maximize…and when we talk to mayors and when we talk to the Indigenous community, they are very interested in the jobs and the economic benefits to the community.”

Sarnia already has “a very high energy literacy rate” and is comfortable with industry, which could give it an edge over other communities to host a site where power is generated in multiple ways including nuclear, natural gas and hydrogen, Donovan added.

He and Brown were guest speakers at the annual general meeting for SLEP (Sarnia Lambton Economic Partnership) held at the St. Clair Parkway golf club, just a few miles from the proposed site. It was attended by about 100 local politicians, industry leaders and economic promoters.

St. Clair Township council is “very excited” by the prospect of development at the former LGS site, said Mayor Jeff Agar.

Council has already formally said it will welcome proposals for various kinds of power generation there, he said. However, an official invitation to the province to locate its natural gas facility in St. Clair hasn’t been approved or sent. That’s not likely to happen until fall.

Meanwhile, a public open house was held by Atura Power in early June to get a sense of community support. Atura is the OPG subsidiary that wants to build the natural gas plant at the former LGS site.

“From what I see there is tremendous community engagement,” said Matthew Slotwinski, SLEP’S CEO. “The reality is that in Lambton County we already have five natural gas generation stations so we know them well. We know their impacts on the environment; we know what’s necessary to bring them forward; and we know the opportunity that ultimately comes from having them locally.

“Atura Power is now well-engaged with local First Nations and, of course, that’s a critical step,” Slotwinski said.

Demand for electricity in Ontario is projected to increase as much as 75% by 2050 and that’s driving the provincial government’s desire to build multiple small module nuclear reactors, natural gas plants and explore hydrogen potential at numerous sites in Ontario, Donovan said.

While demand for power has been “flat” over the past 24 years, it’s expected to dramatically increase as more manufacturing takes place in the next 25 years.

The Ford government has already approved Ontario’s first small nuclear module at the Darlington nuclear facility on Lake Ontario and the former LGS site is considered a strong potential location, said Donovan.

It’s not something that will happen quickly, he said. There is no timeline for development of the former LGS site although application for the natural gas power plant is expected to be made to the Independent Electricity System Operator by the end of this year.

Currently Atura Power is investigating the potential for a natural gas power plant capable of generating up to 500 megawatts. But if the Environmental Assessment (EA) goes as expected and the community welcomes a natural gas plant, it will occupy only 20-40 acres of the 1,200 acres where the coal-burning Lambton Generating Station operated from 1969 to 2013.

That leaves ample room for a nuclear facility, a hydrogen power plant and a battery storage site, said Brown. She said a natural gas plant at LGS would likely occupy the footprint where the four coal-burning units once stood along the St. Clair Parkway between Courtright and Oil Springs Line.

“Where we would consider nuclear is farther from the river,” she said.

“A lot of the questions that we get are, if we say yes to Atura’s proposal, are we shutting the door on other power generation options?” she said. “We’ve done some studies to identify how close can you put the two things. Can they coexist?”

And the answer is yes, Brown said. “We have an amazing engineering team that spent a lot of time looking into this. We want to make sure it’s safe and we aren’t limiting ourselves to what we can build in the future.

“The conclusion is with a certain amount of mitigation, there isn’t a risk.”

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has an extremely good record at managing and regulating nuclear facilities, added Donovan. “There’s a very high bar to meet and…we are very confident we can operate safely here