PAID ADVERTISEMENT DECEMBER 2023 | INNOVATINGCANADA.CA
@MediaplanetCA
@InnovatingCanadaCA
Please recycle
A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BY MEDIAPLANET
POWERING CANADA'S FUTURE What transformative potential do small modular reactors (SMRs) hold for clean energy, and how might they revolutionize the industry?
Tracy Primeau Board of Directors, Ontario Power Generation & Women in Nuclear Canada, Founder & Principal of Agile Bear Consulting
SMRs will make nuclear power more accessible to all kinds of different communities, enabling us to power remote communities currently powered by diesel. Unlike diesel generators, SMRs generate excess steam, which can be used to heat buildings, schools, and hospitals, or to grow fresh plants and vegetables in a greenhouse. This improves sustainability on multiple levels. Canadian SMR companies are also looking for partnerships with Indigenous communities, which is a great opportunity for economic reconciliation and for Indigenous communities to get in on the ground floor with these new builds and be equity partners.
Why nuclear energy? Nuclear ticks all of the boxes we should care about in our modern world. It’s an environmentalist’s dream because there’s no air pollution, and you can produce an astounding amount of energy with the least possible mining and the smallest land footprint. Nuclear uses a fraction of the concrete, steel, and rare earth minerals compared to other low-carbon sources like wind and solar, which means the lowest disturbance to our natural world. Nuclear power also provides Canada with an incredible economic advantage. Canada has innovated its own nuclear technology and design — the CANDU reactor — with a 96 per cent made in Canada supply chain. This gives us complete energy security and an incredible economic multiplier effect.
Dr. Chris Keefer, M.D. President, Canadians for Nuclear Energy & Emergency Physician
Read the extended interviews online at innovatingcanada.ca.
What advantages do you anticipate arising from the new large-scale nuclear build for both the energy industry and Canada as a whole?
Darryl Spector President of Promation
It’ll provide clarity around our large-scale baseload energy supply with some predictability and confidence to meet our climate goals. Look at climate change, for example. The warmer we get, the more air conditioning demand there is, and the more energy that’s going to be required for addressing the impacts of climate change environmentally, and within buildings, homes, and so on. The large-scale nuclear build gives Canada that stepwise levelling up of low-carbon, reliable, baseload power provision so there’s one less question mark and less uncertainty about what’s going to give us that reliable base load supply mix 10 or 15 years from now.
What is the positive impact and significance of nuclear within our society? The role of nuclear energy in Canada is critical to our success in reaching our net-zero carbon goals by 2050. Canada’s nuclear industry makes an important contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and its carbon-free power delivers safe, reliable, and low-cost electricity.
How can embracing diversity lead to innovation and improved outcomes for the industry? One of our greatest challenges in the industry is the very lean representation of women in the employee population. This challenge isn’t just about an equal seat at the table for women. It’s about the fact that women hold critical roles to make the industry successful. Diversity brings improved operational, group, and financial performance, greater innovation, and an enhanced reputation for the company.
Lisa McBride President of Women in Nuclear (WiN) Canada and Country Leader, GE Hitachi Small Modular Reactors, Canada
Hatch's Women in Power, Leading Transformational and Complex Projects With an inclusive team, positive change and many strong empowered women, Hatch is powering Canada's future. Tania Amardeil
H
atch, a global engineering, project management, and professional services firm is passionately committed to the pursuit of a better world through positive change. Employee-owned and independent, they have a reputation for attracting exceptional, diverse teams, as this helps to foster a plurality of thought and perspectives that tackle the world’s toughest challenges — the company’s specialty. But while Hatch is working toward having 40 per cent women representation at the company and putting considerable effort into maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture that attracts and retains the best people, it’s also a company that values talent — they simply hire the best of the best. Who better than the best to tackle the tough? Hatch is deeply engaged in the energy transformation. This includes power generation, storage, and transmission to new technology development, and applications in both the public and industrial sectors. Globally, this consultancy knows it will take all kinds to achieve our net-zero goals.
Encouraging women in power We sat down with two leading women in power to learn more. “I don’t often think about the fact that I’m a woman while at work,” says Sujin Wren, Hydrogen Technologies Lead, Climate Change at Hatch. “I’m
treated like an expert. That says a lot about the type of company we are. Hatch values talent and hard work. If you perform well, you’re ambitious and you have passion, you’ll be encouraged and successful here.” “Hatch has encouraged me by providing challenging opportunities throughout my career, like being part of the energy transformation,” says Patricia Lai, Associate and Project Manager, Power, who has been with the company for 18 years and started the Women in Power initiative to further support Hatch’s female employees. “And like Sujin said, I don’t think it mattered that I was a woman. I was considered an expert. I’m good at my job and because of that, I have been asked to lead complex and interesting energy projects around the world.”
and co-firing. The project has several female leads, including the sponsor, project manager (Lai), technical manager (Wren), and project engineer. “It’s just amazing!” says Wren. “You don’t see this very often in engineering.” This is obviously a source of pride for these two women, and for Hatch. Hatch also works on innovative projects in the nuclear space, collaborating with companies like General Fusion, Laurentis Energy Partners, and X-Energy, to name a few, all in an effort to develop new technologies that will help us shift to less carbon-intensive forms of energy. “Diversity, regardless of gender, is important in leadership in general,” adds Lai. “It provides a different way of thinking about things and fosters an inclusive, creative environment. An environment that’s necessary to achieve anything regarding the net-zero challenge.” Hatch’s pioneering leadership is driving the energy transformation that the world needs for a positive future, and it’s in no small part thanks to its approach to building diverse and innovative teams. The best and brightest minds are needed to tackle the world’s toughest challenges head on — and Hatch clearly recognizes and embraces the fact that the strongest teams are those that bring together diverse perspectives, skills, and experiences.
Diversity, regardless of gender, is important in leadership in general.
Women are powering Canada’s future Wren and Lai have led a number of innovative projects, specifically in power, hydrogen and nuclear, respectively. “Our current project that both Patricia and I are involved in is very innovative and happens to be heavily women-led,” says Wren. This is the work that Hatch is doing with Atura Power on the Halton Hills Generating Station — a first-of-its-kind, technically challenging project involving hydrogen blending
Senior Strategic Account Manager: Sierra Nardella Strategic Account Director: Jessica Golyatov Content Strategist: Nicole Kansakar Country Manager: Nina Theodorlis Production Lead: Michael Taylor Creative Lead: Kylie Armishaw Web Editor: Christina Morgan Digital Media Coordinator: Kristen Neals Digital Traffic Strategist: Karm Rathod All images are from Getty Images unless otherwise credited. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve The National Post or its editorial departments. Send all inquiries to ca.editorial@mediaplanet.com.
Learn more about how Hatch and its diverse teams are powering Canada’s future at hatch.com. This article is sponsored by Hatch.