New Green Hydrogen Facility Worth $4B in Quebec

TES Canada will be investing $4 billion to develop a “green” hydrogen facility at Shawinigan, Quebec. This fuel serves as an alternative to hydrocarbons in industrial sectors and heavy transportation, aiming to decrease reliance on traditional sources.

“This is the first green hydrogen project in the country,” said federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne on Friday.

Énergir will be the primary buyer of the plant’s hydrogen production, utilizing it to generate approximately 20% of its anticipated 115 million cubic meters of renewable natural gas (RNG) by the year 2030.

“This is Quebec’s biggest decarbonization project for Quebec,” added Champagne.

All output is guaranteed in writing to meet the province’s needs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 800,000 tonnes per year.

“If we want to achieve our decarbonization objectives, we need to focus on several renewable energy sources,” including hydrogen, said Economy and Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon.

Additionally, the plant foresees the generation of 1,000 employment opportunities during its construction phase. Plans indicate that the facility is set to start operations in the year 2028.

France Chrétien Desmarais, a co-founder of TES Canada and the daughter of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, as well as the spouse of Power Corporation of Canada’s André Desmarais, highlights that the sector is still in its early stages of development.

As of right now, green hydrogen is more expensive than the products it is meant to replace, like diesel.

“We can’t predict the future, but for now, it’s going in the right direction,” she said.

“At first, I would go and sit in certain offices to discuss it. They’d say, ‘I hear you, come back in ten years.’ Now, people are calling because they know there’s a problem and something needs to be done (…) The price will eventually catch up with the price of diesel.”

She even mentioned the potential of expanding operations to boost production up to 68,000 tonnes annually.