Ontario Power Generation has urged Ontario’s government to move forward with new hydroelectric generation plants in Northern Ontario.
In a report released Monday, the province’s largest utility told the provincial government that the region contains up to 4,000 megawatts of untapped hydroelectric potential. OPG recommended that planning for new facilities begin immediately, given the long lead times involved.
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“There is a clear need to start now,” the report urged Minister of Energy Todd Smith, who had ordered the utility to complete the study in January, 2022.
The report arrives at a moment of renewed interest in building new hydro dams, as governments and utilities across the country anticipate significant increases in electricity demand, driven by electric vehicles and other factors. Dams construction is very expensive relative to competing technologies and can take a decade or more. But according to the International Energy Agency, dams also boast some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy generated.
Ontario exploited most of its large hydroelectric sites early in the 20th century. According to the Canada Energy Regulator, the province has more than 200 hydroelectric facilities with a combined capacity of 9,160 megawatts. OPG’s 66 dams comprise the majority of that.
To begin expanding hydroelectric capacity, OPG recommended the revival of a proposed dam on the Little Jackfish River, which had been shelved in 2015 amid stagnant electricity demand. At 80 megawatts, its output would be modest, but it’s also “the most advanced hydroelectric development opportunity in northwestern Ontario,” the utility asserted.
OPG also envisions building more projects over the next two or three decades. It suggested that between 640 and 1,250 megawatts of generation capacity could be added at nine sites in the Moose River Basin, which consists of the Mattagami, Moose and Abitibi rivers. It recommended the government commence planning discussions with First Nations.
OPG sees potential for new dams across northern Ontario
OPG has identified up to 1,250 megawatts of hydroelectric potential in the Moose River Basin, and up to 1,300 megawatts along the Upper Albany and Attawapiskat rivers. It also identified smaller sites on the Little Jackfish and Severn Rivers.
Rivers with development potential
Moose River Basin, north of Hwy 11
Northern Rivers Watersheds
Far North Act Boundary
Ring of Fire
Ont.
Severn
Attawapiskat
Albany
Moose
Armstrong
Little Jackfish
Abitibi
Mattagami
Timmins
Thunder Bay
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: ONTARIO
POWER GENERATION
OPG sees potential for new dams across northern Ontario
OPG has identified up to 1,250 megawatts of hydroelectric potential in the Moose River Basin, and up to 1,300 megawatts along the Upper Albany and Attawapiskat rivers. It also identified smaller sites on the Little Jackfish and Severn Rivers.
Rivers with development potential
Moose River Basin, north of Hwy 11
Northern Rivers Watersheds
Far North Act Boundary
Ring of Fire
Ont.
Severn
Attawapiskat
Albany
Moose
Armstrong
Little Jackfish
Abitibi
Hearst
Mattagami
Timmins
Thunder Bay
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: ONTARIO POWER GENERATION
OPG sees potential for new dams across northern Ontario
OPG has identified up to 1,250 megawatts of hydroelectric potential in the Moose River Basin, and up to 1,300 megawatts along the Upper Albany and Attawapiskat rivers. It also identified smaller sites on the Little Jackfish and Severn Rivers.
Rivers with development potential
Moose River Basin, north of Hwy 11
ONTARIO
Northern Rivers Watersheds
Far North Act Boundary
Ring of Fire
Severn
Attawapiskat
Fort Albany
Albany
Moosonee
Moose
Armstrong
Kenora
Little Jackfish
Abitibi
Hearst
Mattagami
Thunder Bay
Timmins
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: ONTARIO POWER GENERATION
And the company found eight more possible sites along the Upper Albany and Attawapiskat rivers, totalling a maximum of 1,300 megawatts. It said new dams there could enable development of the Ring of Fire, an area 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay that the province regards as a promising target for mining of critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel, platinum and copper.
Jean-Thomas Bernard, visiting professor at the University of Ottawa’s economics department, said that across Canada, the hydroelectric sites offering the cheapest electricity have already been harnessed. With transmission costs included, recently added hydropower in Quebec has cost roughly 11 cents per kilowatt-hour, as compared with about 6 cents/kWh for new wind projects.
“It would be very difficult to convince me that we could develop fairly large power sites in Ontario below that cost,” he said.
“It is fairly easy to draw a list of rivers where we can develop things,” he added. “But when we look at the cost, and also bringing this power to where people want to use it, that will turn out to be fairly expensive.”
Paul Norris, president of the Ontario Waterpower Association, said those high upfront costs need to be weighed against dams’ long lifespan.
“We have 35 hydro facilities in Ontario today that have been producing electricity for more than 100 years,” he said. “These are going to last forever. So what might look to be a higher cost today will undoubtedly moderate electricity prices 40, 50 or 60 years from now.”
The Ontario Rivers Alliance, a non-profit organization focusing on riverine ecosystems, said it opposed any new hydroelectric projects.
“Over the past three decades, a growing body of independent research has reported that hydroelectric reservoirs are not emission-free in boreal, temperate or tropical regions,” its chair, Linda Heron, said in a written response to questions.
“In fact, they are a significant and ongoing source of biogenic GHGs, including methane, which in some instances can reach the same emission rate as gas-fired facilities.”