Quebec Looking For New Energy Plans Beyond Hydropower

Quebec’s hydro dams have long supported residents with cheap electricity and bragging rights in reducing global carbon emissions, with Premier François Legault suggesting that the province could become the “green battery of North America.”

Despite this, the province’s utility has acknowledged that the Romaine-4 hydroelectric project, which is scheduled to go into service next year, may be the last major dam project in the province for some time.

Hydro-spokesman, Québec’s Francis Labbé, confirmed that the company has no other hydro projects planned. He estimated that such projects take at least ten years to plan and construct, and that they are not cheap, as evidenced by the $7.3 billion price tag for Romaine.

As prices for wind power have dropped, they have become more attractive options for consumers..

Labbé said that “It may come to a point where we come to the conclusion that we need another hydroelectric project ? But right now, considering the delays, considering the cost, considering that we have other options, we will not go in this direction,”

In 2009, Quebec began construction on the four-part Romaine project, which at the time was described as Canada’s largest construction project. After a series of delays, including the pandemic and other health and safety concerns, the commissioning of Romaine-4, the final dam, was pushed back to 2022 from 2020.

According to Labbé, construction on the dam and reservoir is complete, and the power plant is currently under construction. Approximately 450,000 homes will be able to get their power from it when it goes online in the fall.

To ensure that Quebec and its export contracts are met through 2025 or 2026, Labbé says the utility will put out a tender for projects to provide 300 megawatts of wind power and 480 megawatts of renewables, which could include both solar as well as other forms of renewable energy.

An additional 200 megawatts will come from the Apuiat wind energy project, developed with the Innu of the North Shore region, when it is commissioned in 2024.

Hydro-Québec now eyeing wind, solar power for future projects

Hydro-Québec has recently inaugurated its first two solar power plants. It has also set up a subsidiary to assist customers in improving their energy efficiency, and it is working on large-scale batteries that can store excess energy. 

Rather than becoming obsolete, Quebec’s massive hydro dams will become even more critical as the province transitions to alternative sources of power, according to a number of industry experts.

On this point, Louis Beaumier, executive director of Polytechnique Montréal’s Trottier Energy Institute agrees, mainly because of the high cost associated with large dams.

As for hydropower, he says that unlike wind or solar, its consistent output can be quickly ramped up or down to meet fluctuating demand.

Hydroelectric power is “the biggest battery you can ever build,” he said, and it gives Quebec an advantage in that it can move forward with new technologies while always having hydro as a backup.

To grow, the province has increasingly looked to export to the US. Premier Legault has made no secret of his desire to expand exports to the northeastern US, even as Maine voters rejected a plan to run lines through the state to Massachusetts (Legault has said he remains confident the project will go ahead).

Labbé, the head of Hydro-Québec, underplayed the extent of the cultural shift taking place at the company. In spite of Romaine being the final major project, there is still a lot of work to be done in the management and maintenance of the company’s 62 existing power plants. Several of them are already being reworked in an effort to save time and money.

“This is far from the end of hydroelectricity in Quebec,” Labbé said.

Original source material for this article taken from here