Energy Alberta: No buyer selected

13 September 2007

[Edmonton Journal, 10 September; Bloomberg, 12 September] As speculation continues over who might buy the output from Energy Alberta's planned nuclear units, the company says reports that it already had a power purchaser lined up are an "unfortunate misunderstanding." According to Energy Alberta's public relations director Guy Huntingford, the company has received an enquiry about the potential for such a large power supply and is still meeting with prospective customers who cannot be named for confidentiality reasons. He also noted that the company has not purchased the site at Peace River, for which it has filed a site preparation licence application with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, but rather reserved it by purchasing an option to buy it later. The closest proposed oilsands project to Peace River, Shell's Carmon Creek, already has its own plans for gas-powered cogeneration. Adrian Loader, president of Shell's Canadian unit, confirmed in a press report that the company is "not currently pursuing a nuclear option," but if a nuclear plant were to be built the company would look into it, with economics and sustainable development in mind. Another possible buyer could be TransCanada, with its Northern Lights Transmission proposal to export excess electricity from oilsands production, although it claims not to have had talks or contacts with "nuclear power promoters".

Further information

Energy Alberta

WNA's Canada's Uranium Production & Nuclear Power information paper

WNN: Energy Alberta files Candu site application