Durham Region and Clarington welcome international dignitaries for clean energy roundtable

Whitby, Ontario – The following statement is being issued on behalf of John Henry, Regional Chair and Chief Executive Officer for The Regional Municipality of Durham and Adrian Foster, Mayor of Clarington:

“This morning, we were honoured to welcome distinguished guests to Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Darlington Nuclear Generating Station for a roundtable energy discussion and small modular reactor (SMR) site tour, hosted by OPG and facilitated by the Energy Council of Canada.

Dignitaries in attendance included the Prime Minister of Poland, His Excellency Mateusz Morawiecki; Poland’s Canadian Ambassador, Witold Dzielski; The Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Doug Ford; Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Francophone Affairs, Natalia Kusendova-Bashta; Minister of Energy, the Honourable Todd Smith; Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson; as well as senior leaders from OPG including Aida Cipolla, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Finance, and Chris Ginther, Executive Vice President, Business Strategy and Commercial Management.

We were excited to hear about opportunities to work with Poland to aid them as they venture toward a vision of a clean energy transformation. As Poland begins to establish its nuclear energy sector, there is much the Region of Durham and Municipality of Clarington can bring to the table.

Durham Region is the Clean Energy Capital of Canada; a proud nuclear host community; and a test bed for clean energy. Nuclear energy is important in the response to climate change because it produces low-cost electricity safely, reliably and virtually without carbon emissions. We are home to OPG, which is leading the way in the advancement of SMR technology—an emerging industrial subsector that will drive innovation and stimulate new business throughout our region.

As a global centre of nuclear expertise, Durham Region has a strong cluster of nuclear energy-supporting companies and academia, including some of the largest and most innovative in electricity generation and transmission, research and development, energy management, smart mobility, manufacturing and engineering services.

This morning was about collaboration. Important conversations were had about how we can come together behind a shared vision of achieving climate change goals; how innovating in the clean energy sector and creating high quality jobs will have a lasting impact on our economies. Durham Region and Clarington are working together to share our experience and municipal expertise with global communities to foster partnerships and meet climate change goals.”

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