For the record, the largest capacity reactor at Pickering, the 530MWe unit B5 produced 4,042,003MWh in its best year (2019, 87% capacity factor), roughly 300,000 MWh less than current solar installations did in 2023.
Wind and solar capacity has been growing in the vicinity of 11% a year. Nuclear hasn’t, as it peaked in 1993 at 15,800MWe, and has been stalled at 13,500 since 2012, when Gentilly 2 was shut down for the last time.
The cost of installed wind is averaging out to roughly $1300/kW globally on an equalized basis. The reactors at Vogtle, the last new-build reactors commissioned in North America, are currently sitting at approximately $13,000/kW.
This is good to see.
Each of these four reactors at the Pickering Nuclear Power Plant generate more electricity in a year than all the solar farms in Canada combined.
We can’t build enough additional solar or wind capacity to replace them in any reasonable timeframe.
Total Hydro-electric for 2023 297,625,045MWh
Total nuclear MWh for 2023 70,143,731MWh
Total Wind MWh for 2023 30,464,472MWh
Total Solar MWh for 2023 4,327,641MWh
(Jan-Oct. Figures for Nov,Dec not available yet)
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2510001501&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.1&pickMembers%5B1%5D=2.1&cubeTimeFrame.startMonth=01&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2023&cubeTimeFrame.endMonth=12&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2023&referencePeriods=20230101%2C20231201
For the record, the largest capacity reactor at Pickering, the 530MWe unit B5 produced 4,042,003MWh in its best year (2019, 87% capacity factor), roughly 300,000 MWh less than current solar installations did in 2023.
Wind and solar capacity has been growing in the vicinity of 11% a year. Nuclear hasn’t, as it peaked in 1993 at 15,800MWe, and has been stalled at 13,500 since 2012, when Gentilly 2 was shut down for the last time.
The cost of installed wind is averaging out to roughly $1300/kW globally on an equalized basis. The reactors at Vogtle, the last new-build reactors commissioned in North America, are currently sitting at approximately $13,000/kW.
To be fair, Canada doesn’t build much solar. Most of our modern green energy is wind.