The announcement of the refurbishment of the Pickering nuclear power plant has put a new focus on plans to have Pumped Hydroelectric Energy Storage in Marmora.
The Marmora Pumped Storage Project is a proposed 400 megawatt hydroelectric pumped storage project that is a partnership between OPG and Northland Power.
The project would use the former open-pit fire mine in Marmora and convert it into a closed-loop cycle design that recirculates the same water between the former open-pit mine and upper reservoir.
Diagram of Open-Loop Pumped and Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower Storage. (Diagram by: Province of Ontario)
Council in Marmora first supported the project as early as 2011. Hastings County had also given its support in 2022.
The municipality has previously stated that the Marmora Pumped Storage project would be a large scale, fast response, multi-function electricity asset that also has the potential to be a provincial and federal eco-tourism asset.
If moved forward, Marmora indicated that the project could create up to 1,000 jobs during the four-year construction period.
Marmora is not the only area in Ontario looking at bringing in hydroelectric pumped storage.
In Meaford, the Ontario Pumped Storage Project is a proposed 1,000 megawatt hydroelectric pumped storage by TC Energy that would would take water from Georgian Bay, temporarily store it in a reservoir, and then return the water back into Georgian Bay to generate electricity.
Both projects have been chosen from among many other proposals for a study into their viability.
One or both could be approved for construction. No timeline has been set on when a decision for each project could be made.
