Prodigy Clean Energy this month confirmed the completion of a two-year research and develop program toward boosting Canada’s grid with nuclear power.
The program completion advances Prodigy’s flagship Transportable Nuclear Power Plant technology, which enables infrastructure to deploy reactors in remote regions.
“Prodigy’s TNPPs are technological solutions that improve SMR build standardization, manufacturing and deployment efficiency, and geographical reach,” explains chief executive officer Mathias Trojer, who founded the Canadian cleantech in 2017.
Trojer is convinced his technologies “will become effective tools to increase Arctic energy security.”
“Early leadership in TNPPs has strengthened Canada’s global competitive edge in nuclear energy,” he stated.
The Government of Canada has provided an investment of nearly $3M to Prodigy through its Enabling Small Modular Reactors program.
“To become a clean energy superpower, we need to deploy affordable, reliable, clean Canadian energy from coast to coast to coast,” suggests Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, “especially in rural, northern and remote regions, where there can be fewer options for families.”
Bolstering energy security in Canada’s North is a top national priority, according to Hodgson, who says that power is needed to increase essential services and infrastructure for off-grid communities and to expand opportunities for the advancement of Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy.
But in far north and remote regions, traditional construction and maintenance approaches encounter challenges, from extreme weather to small and variable construction windows.
Prodigy is aiming to address these issues by combining established nuclear technologies with maritime factory fabrication, transport, and construction practices to deliver an assembled nuclear plant that meets Canadian regulatory requirements directly to site, where it is fixed in place within a protected enclosure.
“By advancing promising Canadian technologies such as Prodigy’s, we are supporting economic growth in the North while strengthening Canada’s energy security,” Hodgson stated.
“We are honoured to receive support from the Government of Canada,” remarked Trojer.
Prodigy was founded in Montreal and hopes to have its first project running by 2030.