The latest small modular reactor nuclear technology firm to make big plans in Canada has cleared a major investment hurdle.
ARC Clean Energy Canada announced that its $30 million Series A financing found has been completed. The money is coming from both private investors and the Province of New Brunswick.
ARC Clean Energy is working toward eventual deployment of its commercial grid-scale advanced SMR power plant at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station (pictured). Point Lepreau NGS is owned by utility New Brunswick Power.
Nuclear power generates carbon-free electricity. Many industries and energy planners see the SMR option as a valuable tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the generation sector, including Net-Zero microgrids.
“Canada has taken the lead in the development of aSMR technology,” said ARC Canada President & CEO, Mr. William P. Labbe, Jr. “With the recent closing of our Series A financing, the investment community is demonstrating clear confidence in ARC Canada’s ability to deliver an energy solution that will produce carbon free, low-cost, baseload power with a high-quality heat supply ideal for clean fuels production and industrial decarbonization.”
ARC Canada will deploy its technology for both electrical and industrial applications to customers including utilities, governments, and corporations. The launch customer, NB Power, is an experienced nuclear operator with a proven track record for safety, reliable operations and has a strategically positioned electrical grid able to supply Atlantic Canada and the New England states with a clean and reliable source of generation.
The ARC Canada technology is a modular 100-MW fast reactor that incorporates next-gen safety features and a 20-year refueling cycle. Its modular design and factory assembly yields lower-cost energy than conventional nuclear and allows for broader supply chain participation, the company says.
The Canadian government previously announced it was investing C$27.2 million ($19M U.S.) in Westinghouse’s portable and nuclear eVinci micro reactor which could bring off-grid power to industrial sites, data centers, universities and other mission-critical energy customers in the country.
In another Canadian future nuclear technology development, power generator Bruce Power, General Fusion and the Nuclear Innovation Institute entered into an MOU earlier this year to collaborate on develop the Fusion Demonstration Plant in Canada, which would be more energy intensive and yet less radioactive than current fission technologies.
Nuclear power in the U.S. accounts for about 20 percent of the current generation resource portfolio and more than half of the carbon-free electricity generated, according to federal statistics.
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(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).
