Current status

On May 20, 2021, we issued a declaration order to allow Stelco Inc. to proceed with a proposed 262.5 kilovolt transformer station at its Lake Erie Works steel plant in Nanticoke without undertaking the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act.

Get details on the declaration order.

Project summary

Stelco Inc. is constructing an electricity generation facility at its Lake Erie Works steel plant in Nanticoke, Ontario. The purpose of the electricity generation facility is to:

  • recover by-product gases generated at the site
  • create electricity to help power Stelco’s operations

The electricity generation facility is located on Stelco’s Lake Erie Works site, an already heavily industrialized area which is regulated by several permits and approvals. As a result, the project is expected to have minimal negative environmental impacts associated with its construction and operation.

Currently, by-product gas produced at the Lake Erie Works site is flared off. The electricity generation facility would collect that by-product gas and use it to produce electricity to help power Stelco’s operations and reduce its reliance on the provincial electricity grid.

As part of the facility, Stelco is proposing a new 262.5-kilovolt transformer station. Without the proposed transformer station, the energy recovered would not be at a voltage that would be usable at the Stelco Lake Erie Works site.

At Stelco’s request, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks issued a declaration order that exempts the planning, designing, establishing, constructing, operating, changing, expanding and retiring of the new 262.5-kilovolt transformer station from the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act and its regulations.

With the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks can exempt all or part of a project from the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act, if the Minister considers it in the public interest to do so.

The proposed project is expected to have many positive impacts, including:

  • reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the site
  • growing the economy and creating additional jobs
  • reducing the demand on the provincial electricity grid during peak hours at the Lake Erie Works site

Proponent

Stelco Inc.

Location

Nanticoke, Ontario

Project type

Electricity generation

Reference number

21002

Contact

Kendrick Doll, Environmental Assessment Branch

Project history

Declaration order: granted
Proposal date: February 17, 2021
Expiry of public comment period: March 19, 2021
Decision date: May 20, 2021

Declaration order

The Minister has issued a declaration order to allow Stelco to proceed with the proposed project without having to meet the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act as set out in the class environmental assessment.

Learn more about the declaration order on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.