Electricity demand will increase by 12% by 2029 in Quebec and Hydro-Quebec needs more energy to meet it. Two calls for tenders totaling almost 800 megawatts for renewable energy will be launched this fall.
In the updated supply plan that has just been submitted to the Régie de l’énergie, the Crown corporation predicts that Quebec’s needs will be greater than those forecast just a year ago. This increase is explained by “the end of the impacts of COVID-19 on electricity consumption as well as [par] the favorable outlook for the coming years ”.
The expected increase in consumption is also due to the electrification of the economy, according to Hydro. The upward revision in electricity demand has nothing to do with the two mega supply contracts signed by Hydro-Québec with Massachusetts and New York State. It only concerns the needs of Quebec, said Maxence Huard-Lefebvre, spokesperson for the Crown corporation.
Overall, the production capacity of Hydro-Québec power plants and its other sources of supply exceeds the company’s needs by more than 40 TWh of available energy per year, which allows it to export to the United States. United, he explained.
Air conditioning and electrification
In total, the demand for electricity in Quebec in 2029 will be 12% higher than it is today, predicts the state-owned company. This represents 20 terawatt-hours (or billion kilowatt-hours) more, including 6.9 TWh for the natural growth of needs, 6.5 TWh for expanding sectors and 3.9 TWh for the electrification of transport.
The forecast has been revised up by 4.1 TWh compared to last year. In the residential sector, the increase in demand will come from the increased use of air conditioning and the conversion from heating to electricity. In the residential sector, Hydro-Québec forecasts an increase in consumption in aluminum smelters and mines, but a decrease in pulp and paper.
“The good performance of world commodity prices and the strategy related to the battery sector support the improvement of the forecast,” says Hydro-Québec in documents filed with the Régie de l’énergie.
The two calls for tenders that will be launched this fall aim to increase the supply of energy and power available to meet the larger-than-expected increase in demand. Current surpluses are expected to decline and disappear in 2027.
Hydro is going to the market to buy 480 megawatts of renewable energy from an unspecified source for the first tender, and 300 megawatts of wind power in the second. These new supplies must be available in the fall of 2026.
Hydro-Québec, which has plans to increase production in its boxes, will be able to participate in these calls for tenders itself. “Hydro-Quebec, in its electricity production activities, can participate in the same way as any other producer,” said the spokesperson for the state-owned company.
Hydro-Quebec has just commissioned two solar parks in the Montreal region and plans to manufacture hydrogen in Varennes. In principle, this energy could qualify for the tender for 480 megawatts of renewable energy from an unspecified source. The second 300 megawatt call for tenders is reserved for wind power, and developers from eastern Quebec are already ready to participate.