SQL Server replication methodology
Transactional Replication is the best fit for this scenario.
Your tables should have primary keys, which is a pre-requisite for Transactional Replication.  The load on the publisher is minimal.  The bulk of the work is done by the Distributor, which can be on the same instance as the Publisher, or the Subscriber, or a completely separate SQL instance.
If you are willing to upgrade the production database to SQL Server 2017 Enterprise Edition you can create a readable replica on the secondary with AlwaysOn Availibility Group, with or without joining the servers in a Windows Server Failover Cluster.