The CEO of Investissement Québec (IQ) recognizes the “economic risk” of putting more than $2.7 billion of public funds into the battery sector, but assures that he has indeed “done his homework” to understand all the risks , even if he did not request a study on this subject.
“It’s a damn good deal business. It certainly represents an economic risk. The sector is not yet built,” explained in an interview with Newspaper the CEO of Investissement Québec (IQ), Guy LeBlanc.
The number 1 of the financial arm made this declaration on the sidelines of a speech to business people from Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec scheduled for Tuesday.
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No study
Asked about the various risks linked to the battery sector, Guy LeBlanc wanted to set the record straight after experts accused Quebec of not having looked closely enough at the issue.
“We did not ask for a study. We have not produced any document other than our discussions with the relevant parties and we had these discussions with international players. We had these discussions with specialized firms. We had these discussions with people from the Hydro-Québec research center, including Karim Zaghib and the people from Shawinigan,” he explained.
“We did our homework, both from a technological and economic due diligence point of view, and on all the potential risks, the reputation of the players with whom we spoke, and so on,” he said. he adds.
Public money
While the Legault government has just allocated nearly 20% of public funds to approximately $15 billion in battery sector projects, IQ number 1 had a message to send to taxpayers: we must stop talking about a “subsidy” and see it as an investment.
“What irritates me is that we always talk about subsidies and aid and so on. It was financing and 95% participation that we did,” he said.
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“I’m a little tired of hearing about these subsidies. This is 5% of $15 billion in Quebec aid which represents a form of subsidy. Period,” he insisted.
According to Guy LeBlanc, the battery sector will be comparable to Hydro-Québec in terms of revenue when it matures.
“We are talking about $15 billion to $20 billion at the very least. That will be 10,000 jobs in Quebec, and well-paid jobs,” he predicts.
No slowdown
While giants like Ford are freezing their investments in electricity, Guy LeBlanc maintains that he does not yet feel the effects of this slowdown here.
“Ford and GM continue to push in the same direction, invest, and construction is progressing on schedule, or even better. We are not talking about a slowdown here,” continues the big boss of IQ.
On the contrary, the construction work of GM-POSCO, in Bécancour, is one month ahead of schedule and that of Ford is going well, assures Guy LeBlanc.
He points out that Northvolt has more European customers, where movement is not slowing down.
“We have not received any signal, until now, that there was a slowdown or a little nervousness,” he concluded.
– With the collaboration of Sylvain Larocque