Laurentis Energy Partners officially opened a new office in Saint John, N.B., on Nov. 14, 2019. From left to right: Jason Van Wart, vice-president of Laurentis; Dominique Minière, president of Laurentis; Gaëtan Thomas, president and CEO of NB Power; Bernard Lord, former premier of New Brunswick; and Mike Holland, Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Development. (Photo: Brad Perry)
An Ontario company which works with nuclear and power sector industries has set up shop in Saint John.
It is the first time Laurentis Energy Partners, formerly Canadian Nuclear Partners, has opened an office outside Ontario.
A grand opening celebration was held at the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre on Thursday afternoon.
Dominique Minière, president of Laurentis, said it made sense to expand to New Brunswick since they have been partners with NB Power for several years.
“We have delivered services to NB Power, we have very strong relationships, and we want to go in and build a bit more on this relationship,” said Minière.
Founded in 2012, the company did extensive work during the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station and provides expertise during planned maintenance outages.
“They have expertise because they have multiple units,” said Gaëtan Thomas, president and CEO of NB Power. “For us to develop that expertise for 30 days a year, it would be very expensive.”
Laurentis Energy Partners, formerly known as Canadian Nuclear Partners, is celebrating the opening of its #SaintJohn office — the first outside of Ontario. President Dominique Minière is addressing the crowd. pic.twitter.com/9JEAGlvz3s
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) November 14, 2019
Thomas said having Laurentis open an office in New Brunswick is a sign of future nuclear growth in the province.
“I think Laurentis is looking ahead and they see a market growing in this area,” he said. “Ontario has already shut down their coal plants, so the market will not grow as much over there that it could go over here.”
Thomas noted New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the New England states still have a high dependency on coal and fossil fuels.
The entrance of Laurentis into New Brunswick comes as the province focuses on becoming a leader in the field of research and development of small modular reactors, or SMRs.
In June of 2018, the province committed $10 million to help the New Brunswick Energy Solutions Corporation develop a nuclear research cluster.
Less than a month later, two companies — Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC) and Moltex Energy — signed on as partners. They each contributed $5 million and set up offices in Saint John.
Minière said Canada has a lot of good opportunities in the field of small modular reactors.
“It would be difficult to start it in Europe because there are many relying on large reactors. It would be difficult to start it in the U.S. because they are struggling with their existing power plants due to gas prices,” he said.
Thomas said he believes there are opportunities to partner with Laurentis when it comes to SMRs.
“As you go in front of the regulator and you have to explain and certify engineering designs … they have a lot of expertise on that because they have a big nuclear fleet in Ontario.”
Minière said opening an office in Saint John is a sign of the partnership between NB Power and Laurentis, and even between New Brunswick and Ontario.
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