Bruce Power to Refurbish Six Nuclear Reactors

Bruce Power, which operates the world's largest nuclear facility in Tiverton, Ontario, has entered into a long-term agreement with the province's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to supply it with 6,300 megawatts of electricity.

The agreement, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2016, will allow Bruce Power to invest in life-extension activities for Units 3-8 as part of a long-term refurbishment program that will commence on Unit 6 in 2020. Bruce Power says the refurbishment of each unit will add 30-35 years of operational life, with life-extension investments adding a further combined 30 reactor years of operational life to the units.

The facility operator estimates the cost of the six refurbishments at C$8 billion ($6 billion) in 2014 dollars, in addition to C$5 billion for a range of other life-extension activities to be carried out from 2016 to 2053. In the short-term, 2016-2020, the company will invest approximately C$2.3 billion as part of this plan.

Bruce Power—a partnership among TransCanada Corp., Borealis Infrastructure, the Power Workers’ Union and the Society of Energy Professionals—will bear the risk of delivering these projects on time and on budget.

Under terms of the agreement with IESO, Bruce Power will receive a single price starting in 2016 for all output from the site of $65.73 per megawatt hour (MW/h). This compares with the current price of $64.90 MW/h—and an average price of residential electricity in the province through the first three quarters of 2015 of $98.90 MW/h.

In 2005, Bruce Power reached an agreement with the Ontario Power Authority helping facilitate a $5.25 billion investment program to refurbish Units 1 and 2, which were restarted in 2012. The facility provides roughly 30% of Ontario’s electricity.