If the Legault government is ready to refuse industrial projects in the face of the strong anticipated increase in electricity consumption, there is no question of touching the objectives of electrification of transport, assures the Minister of the Economy and the Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon.
The minister has already said that the government should “make choices” among the many requests from companies that want access to the Hydro-Quebec network to supply new industrial projects. He also sees energy efficiency as a way to reduce pressure on the network.
The electrification of transport would not be slowed down by these mitigation measures, assures Mr. Fitzgibbon. Quebec does not intend to lighten the foot on the accelerator while the transport sector represents 43% of greenhouse gas emissions.
“My colleague Benoit Charette [ministre de l’Environnement] pushes me in the back to say: “I need energy to be able to decarbonize”, ”he says during an announcement on the electrification of transport, Friday in Laval.
There are approximately 170,000 electric vehicles in Quebec, according to data from the Association of Electric Vehicles of Quebec (AVÉQ). The government wants to increase this number to 2 million by 2030.
“Clearly, this will put enormous pressure on Hydro-Québec, not in terms of energy, but in terms of power management,” concedes the minister.
End of surpluses and optimization
Hydro-Québec envisages the end of energy surpluses around 2027. The Crown corporation estimates that more than 100 additional terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity would be needed to meet demand and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This capacity would increase through energy efficiency, new solar and wind energy projects, as well as possible new hydroelectric dams.
It is to find ways to reduce the pressure that Quebec is granting $2.7 million in aid to two companies that will develop software to manage the consumption of charging stations in multi-unit buildings. The idea is to move the vehicle charging period outside the peak period.
The Electric Vehicle Charging (RVE) and Dimonoff project, in partnership with the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), would make it possible to “erase 4,000 megawatts (MW) of power and move the charging of electric vehicles outside of point,” says Electric Vehicle Recharge president David Corbeil.
Industrial demand
On the sidelines of the announcement, Mr. Fitzgibbon reiterated that there are only 1,000 MW of electricity left to carry out new major industrial projects, a figure he revealed to the parliamentary committee on Thursday.
Quebec can however accommodate more projects, he qualifies. The government has received a list of requests equivalent to 23,000 MW and nearly 10,000 MW are being seriously considered. ” Be careful. We don’t need that today, ”he nuanced in an interview.
“With the wind turbines that we are going to build, with the turbines that we are going to change, with the energy efficiency that we are going to have. We, at the Ministry of the Economy, are working so that the 9000 MW that are missing, we sequence them in the time when they can be done. »
Interest in Quebec electricity is strong, added the Minister. He says he has had discussions with companies who say they are ready to wait a year or two to be able to connect to the Hydro-Quebec network, because its electricity makes it possible to reduce the carbon footprint of projects.