To increase Saskatchewan’s ability to develop small modular reactors in the province, the Government of Canada has approved up to $74 million in federal funding.
Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, was in Saskatoon Saturday to announce the new funds, which he says will help the province provide clean, reliable, and affordable power to their citizens. He adds that the project will be led by SaskPower, and the corporation has selected the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 for potential deployment in Saskatchewan in the mid-2030s, subject to a decision to build expected in six years.
The funding is part of a federal initiative to shift to a non-emitting electricity grid across Canada by 2035. These changes were outlined in Powering Canada Forward and in the draft Clean Electricity Regulations. The federal government has committed over $40 billion in new measures to help provinces do the same and has announced over $500 million to date in support of a clean energy grid in Saskatchewan specifically.