(Longueuil) François Legault firmly believes in it: according to him, it is impossible for Quebec to become carbon neutral by 2050 without building new hydroelectric dams.
Posted at 11:55 a.m.
The leader of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) announced on Tuesday that he was mandating Hydro-Québec to assess the advisability of building new dams and to come back to him “in the coming months” with proposals. Mr. Legault even wants to accelerate their development, which takes on average between 10 and 15 years.
But his proposal, which he announced as the “most important project in the history of Quebec”, was quickly criticized, both by his opponents, but also by energy experts.
“We can’t say: ‘I want Quebec to become carbon neutral, but I don’t want a dam.’ It is not true that with energy efficiency and wind power that we will be able to replace 50% of the energy we consume in Quebec in transport and in industry,” he added. he replied on Wednesday.
Mr. Legault also played down the fears expressed Tuesday by the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL), Ghislain Picard.
“There are huge economic benefits associated with dams. We will work with the Aboriginal communities who are specifically targeted, not with the group represented by Mr. Picard, ”he said.
Analyze all scenarios
These statements from the CAQ chief follow numerous warnings expressed by experts in The Press and in several media about the CAQ plan.
“Putting forward or prioritizing a solution is a mistake. There are plenty of possible avenues. We now know that there is a panoply of technologies that could be of interest. We have to study hydroelectricity, but also wind, solar, geothermal, even nuclear. And if it happens to be hydro, then we’ll go. But let’s document first,” said for example Professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau, holder of the Energy Chair at HEC Montréal.
“We can no longer flood territories as we did in the past, for the environmental and social acceptability reasons that we know. That means that we won’t be able to have a lot of reservoirs, and that we will therefore have less flexibility,” also commented Normand Mousseau, scientific director of the Trottier Energy Institute at Polytechnique Montréal.
But for François Legault, these experts do not understand the extent of the demand expressed by the industries to the outgoing Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon.
“Just to give you an order of magnitude, Hydro-Québec produces 200 terawatt hours of electricity per year. When we look at the list [des projets des entreprises qui s’en viennent], we will need 100 terawatt hours more. You don’t have to be an accountant to understand: that means that we will have to build half a Hydro-Québec in the next few years. It is not a small mandate, ”he justified on Tuesday.
For its part, Hydro-Québec responded to The Press that the crown corporation did not comment on the election promises made by each party.
With Henri Ouellette-Vézina