Nanticoke Generating Station

At full capacity (4000 MW) with all eight generating units functioning, the station's annual electricity production had been as high as 24 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), enough electricity to run nearly 2.5 million households.[1] Although the plant houses eight generating units, four of those units have since been retired.[1] (Two were retired in 2010, and two were retired in 2011.[10]) The remaining four units are not in operation.[11]

Previously, power generation at this plant was on a stand-by basis, only operating during peak levels of energy consumption, or when other generating facilities are unavailable. At other times the plant would remain idle.[1] When demand for electricity was high, the remaining four active generating units were put into service, with the maximum potential to produce approximately 5% of Ontario's total generating capacity. (1880 MW[1] out of the 34,079 MW of existing power generation in the province as of January 2012.[10]) The plant is connected to the power grid by numerous 230,000- and 500,000-volt transmission lines.[12]

Cooling water for the plant was drawn from Lake Erie using two pipes that are 6.5 m in diameter, stretch 550 m offshore, and sit 10 m below the surface.[13] The plant had two multi-flue smokestacks which were both 198 m (650 ft) tall.[14][15] A dock on the shore of the site allows ships to deliver coal to an on-site stock pile, which can hold up to 4.5 megatonnes.

At its peak, Nanticoke employed approximately 634 staff from the Haldimand—Norfolk area.[1][16][17]

The Nanticoke station used to be one of Canada's largest greenhouse gas emitters and polluters.[18] In 2001, it was the largest single source of greenhouse gases according to Environment Canada.[19] Due to major reductions in output since 2009, it was eventually surpassed by facilities in Alberta.[20][21]

The Government of Ontario had originally targeted to phase out all of its coal plants by 2009, but abandoned this target in 2006 to the ire of organizations representing nurses and physicians, community groups and environment groups.[23] The province could not replace Nanticoke's energy output by the deadline, despite Units 3 and 4 at Bruce "A" being brought back online between 2003 and 2004.[24] The province was examining replacing this output using nuclear power by refurbishing its existing fleet, and building two additional reactors at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. Bruce Power, Canada's only private nuclear power company, also proposed building two reactors on former Stelco lands in Nanticoke. However, this was met with immediate opposition and dismissal from the government. "It's a speculative move on the part of a private company...It doesn't enjoy the support, encouragement [or] approval...of the Government of Ontario," stated George Smitherman, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.[25] Bruce Power did however move ahead with the refurbishment of "A" Units 1 and 2 in 2005[24] and Ontario Power Generation commenced refurbishment of Darlington in 2016.[26]

Two units at Nanticoke were shut down in fall 2010.[27] Another two were shut down in 2011.[28] The final four were shut down on December 31, 2013.[29] This was made possible, in part, by the reactivation of Units 1 and 2 at Bruce Nuclear Generating Station the previous year.[30] In July 2015, Ontario Power Generation announced it will no longer "preserve and staff Nanticoke", and the expectation is that the plant will be permanently decommissioned.[31] Its two smokestacks were imploded using controlled demolition on February 28, 2018.[32] The last sections were demolished on August 22, 2019.[5][33]