Tiverton and Toronto: Ontario Power Generation and Bruce Power released a report August 27 on how the two have been collaborating in providing power to the province.
The report, Powering Ontario Together, highlights collaborative initiatives designed to drive efficiencies and deliver reliable, low cost electricity to the province over the long term.
Aerial views of Bruce NGS, top, and Darlington NGS
"OPG and Bruce Power have a history of collaboration. It's great to see our teams finding efficiencies and working together to create the best possible outcomes for our refurbishment projects. Together, we'll continue to provide the province of Ontario with low-cost, carbon-free and reliable electricity for decades to come," says Mike Rencheck, the President and CEO of Bruce Power.
The two nuclear operators signed a Memorandum of understanding in November 2015, facilitated by the Ministry of Energy, to formalize their collaboration in power plant operation and refurbishment. As the report explains, the two meet three or four times a year to share operational experience and insights, in areas such as calandria tube replacement. Given that they run reactors based on the same design, with the same component specifications and requirements, manufacturers can produce components for both without changing specs or tooling, allowing savings on joint purchases and parts to be sent where they’re needed. OPG says, as a result of their shared experience, it expects to save 16 critical path days per unit, for a total of 48 days over the course of the Darlington refurbishment project.