Energy
Both our direct and indirect energy volumes have been increasing slowly since 2005, reflecting our growth and expanding operations.
We expect our energy use to continue to increase as we expand our operations and increase production in the coming years.
To mitigate this, we are working towards improving energy efficiency at our older operations, including capturing and reusing waste heat or steam energy to offset primary energy consumption where possible.
Large-scale, multi-year projects, like our revitalization projects at Key Lake and Rabbit Lake and our operational reliability project at Port Hope, are expected to bring the biggest energy savings, but we are also considering energy balance and efficiency when designing and purchasing new equipment and infrastructure.
Our operations are exploring opportunities to reduce through improvements like energy efficient lighting, repairing leaks in pressurized air systems, upgrading insulation, and lowering temperatures in process units and underground work areas, among others.
You can read more about some of these initiatives in our case studies.
GRI Indicators
EN3 – Direct energy use (by primary source)
^This indicator provides information about the amount of energy we buy or produce for our own use.
This includes:
- natural gas
- diesel
- gasoline
- propane
- light fuel oil (and other crude-oil derivatives)
Includes all divisions except corporate offices and exploration.
What it means
Cameco's direct energy use is increasing as we expand our operations and increase production.
Looking ahead
We expect our energy use to continue to increase as we expand our operations and increase production in support of our Double U strategy. To mitigate this, we are working towards improving energy efficiency at our older operations, including capturing and reusing waste heat or steam energy to offset primary energy consumption where possible. We are also considering energy balance and efficiency when designing and purchasing new equipment and infrastructure.
EN4 – Indirect energy use (by primary source)
^This indicator provides information about the indirect energy Cameco uses. While the only indirect energy we purchase is electricity, our providers utilize the following renewable and non-renewable sources to produce it:
- steam
- nuclear
- hydro
- wind
- biomass
- hydrocarbons (coal, oil, natural gas)
Includes all divisions except corporate offices and exploration.
What it means
Cameco's indirect energy use is increasing as we expand our operations and increase production.
Looking ahead
We expect our energy use to continue to increase as we expand our operations and increase production in support of our Double U strategy. To mitigate this, we are working towards improving energy efficiency at our older operations, including capturing and reusing waste heat or steam energy to offset primary energy consumption where possible. We are also considering energy balance and efficiency when designing and purchasing new equipment and infrastructure.