Ontario electricity produced with rising percentage of greenhouse-gas-emitting power
Global News
Ontario's electricity is now being produced with the highest percentage of greenhouse-gas-emitting power since coal plants were operating in the province.
Ontario’s electricity is now being produced with the highest percentage of greenhouse-gas-emitting power since coal plants were operating in the province.
The Independent Electricity System Operator recently posted its 2024 year in review, which contains a breakdown of how much electricity was produced from various sources.
It shows that last year 16 per cent of the electricity in Ontario’s grid was produced by natural gas, making it 84 per cent emissions free – down from 87 per cent the year before and down from a high of 96 per cent in 2017.
The last time Ontario’s electricity was produced with at least 16 per cent of emitting power was in 2012, when the province still had coal-fired generation.
Nuclear led the way in 2024, with 51 per cent of Ontario’s electricity generated by those plants, and about 24 per cent came from hydro power.
The percentage of natural gas generation in Ontario’s electricity system has been increasing over the past several years. The IESO says gas provides more flexibility than many other sources, and more is being used while some nuclear units undergo refurbishments so the system remains stable.
“Outages to nuclear generation from this work combined with reduced supply from imports also resulted in gas generation’s higher contribution to overall output in 2024,” the IESO said in its report.
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