It’s not quite the second Baie-James that François Legault dangled in 2016, but it’s still 3,000 MW of wind energy more and the prospect of developing other rivers to build new dams. The CAQ leader has set his sights on a massive increase in electricity production capacity, but talks little about energy efficiency.
In Bécancour on Tuesday, François Legault promised that a next CAQ government will launch what he described as the largest economic and ecological project in the history of Quebec – “nothing less”, he added. In an election campaign, superlatives are in order, especially when talking about the economy, investments and electricity. Liberal leader Dominique Anglade was not left out when she unveiled her ECO plan, combining the development of renewable electricity projects and the nationalization of hydrogen production. With investments of 100 billion at stake. Nothing less.
By 2050, Hydro-Québec will have to increase its electricity deliveries by 50% of electricity demand, or 100 terawatt hours (TWh) more, the equivalent of 12 Romaine complexes. This is what the CEO of the state-owned company, Sophie Brochu, said this spring.
François Legault intends to ask the state corporation to draw up a list of suitable sites for building new power plants, and he even expects proposals within a few months. As for the delays involved in the construction of such works, that is to say about fifteen years, “we will try to shorten that”, he said.
This is because the CAQ government has struggled to convince foreign companies, concerned about their environmental footprint and image, to come and settle in Quebec. François Legault considers that Quebec, with its hydroelectric resources, is particularly well placed to benefit economically from a context where many countries and companies will aim to achieve carbon neutrality. He’s not wrong.
The Minister of Economy and Innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, has taken up his pilgrim’s staff and seems to have had success. And that’s not to mention local businesses that also want to join the movement. The minister has in hand a list of projects that would monopolize 50 TWh of electricity in the medium term, a volume that Hydro-Québec does not have.
The CAQ leader said that Quebec will become one of the world’s largest producers of lithium batteries. Already, the European BASF, as well as GM, with its Korean partner Posco Chemical, have announced their intention to settle in the industrial park of Bécancour, in what is now called the Valley of the energy transition.
We are talking about producing green aluminum, green steel and green hydrogen. All these new industrial activities, like the electrification of transport, will require large volumes of renewable energy.
Several questions remain unanswered. Beyond the optimization of existing power stations and the development of their watershed, which is eminently desirable, building new dams should cost much more than the most expensive complex to date, the Romaine. Some projects may encounter strong opposition from the local population, including Aboriginal people. This is the case of sightings on the Magpie River. Few are the relatively accessible virgin rivers.
This new production will cost nearly four times more than the heritage rate, according to Sophie Brochu. Does this mean that Quebecers should expect substantial increases in electricity rates because it will be necessary to supply the large industrial consumers that we will have been able to attract? As for wind power, this energy contribution does not contribute to alleviating the problem of winter consumption peaks, for which Hydro-Québec needs the installed power of power stations.
Finally, François Legault pays little attention to energy efficiency. Before talking about dams, the government should do its best to extract “negawatts” from the heating of poorly insulated houses, dwellings and businesses. In Europe, “energy renovation” programs have been implemented. If we were aiming to reduce residential electricity consumption by 25% alone, essentially related to heating, it is 17 TWh — more than twice the Romaine — that we could get, mainly in winter and during peak periods. . However, it is a huge project and Hydro-Québec cannot undertake it alone.
However, it is undoubtedly more salesman for a politician in electoral campaign to evoke the miracle of the great hydroelectric works than the prosaic domiciliary renovation.