(Bécancour) François Legault dreams of building new dams. He mandates Hydro-Quebec to evaluate this possibility and to present to him in “the next few months” proposals to launch construction sites.
Posted at 10:39
Updated at 11:48 a.m.
The leader of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) believes that Quebec’s growing electricity needs, which are explained both by the electric shift in transportation and by the green shift of industries that reduce their greenhouse gas emissions emissions (GHG), justify that Quebec embarks on the construction of new dams. Currently, it takes 15 years to build one.
“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’re going to need 100 terawatt-hours more. You don’t have to be an accountant to understand. This means that we will have to build half a Hydro-Québec in the next few years. It’s not a small mandate, ”said Mr. Legault on Tuesday during a speech to business people from the Centre-du-Québec and Mauricie regions.
“The development of the battery sector, the production of green hydrogen, the electrification of transport and the transition of large industries, such as steelworks and aluminum smelters, to renewable energies are just a few examples that explain the significant increase in demand for green electricity in Quebec”, explains the party.
Wealth creation
The CAQ candidate in the riding of Terrebonne and Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, also believes that the gains that must be made in energy efficiency will not be enough to meet the growth in demand for electricity.
“It is premature to say that we will launch a barrage next week. But clearly, the energy needs are such that you have to look at everything because just making [gains en efficacité énergétique] or wind, it’s probably not enough, ”he said on the sidelines of Mr. Legault’s announcement.
According to the CAQ leader, private investments by companies presenting projects to the government would allow Quebec, with these new dams, to significantly reduce its wealth gap with Ontario. In a press scrum on Tuesday, François Legault did not identify the various scenarios where Hydro-Québec could build new hydroelectric dams in the north of the province. He redirected these questions to the president and CEO of the Crown corporation, Sophie Brochu, who was not present for the announcement. In the fall of 2021, the latter claimed that Hydro-Québec had no plans to build new dams in the foreseeable future.
In addition to new dams, if they see the light of day, “a CAQ government will ask Hydro-Québec to proceed with the acquisition of electricity and the construction of wind farms with a total capacity of 3000 MW”, it was also specified. François Legault’s party also promises to invest 40 million to create an Integrated Center for Electric Batteries to stimulate the battery industry and innovation.
Triple the number of charging stations by 2026
François Legault a aussi promis mardi de tripler d’ici 2026 le nombre de bornes de recharge pour les voitures électriques à travers le Québec et de doubler le nombre de bornes rapides, s’il est élu le 3 octobre.
« Le Québec s’est doté d’objectifs ambitieux en matière d’électrification des transports. Il vise 1,6 million de véhicules électriques sur les routes en 2030. […] There are currently 143,000 electric cars on the roads of Quebec, in addition to various types of electric trucks. A complete network of charging stations is essential to ensure the success of this important transition to electrified transportation,” says the CAQ.
To date, François Legault’s party has identified half of the effort to be made in order to reach Quebec’s target of reducing its GHG emissions by 37.5% by 2030 below the level they were in 1990. The CAQ candidate in the riding of Deux-Montagnes and Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, affirms that his party identifies each year between 6 to 8% of the measures necessary to achieve the objective. If the most recent update of the plan for a green economy therefore quantified 51% of the effort to be made to achieve this, the CAQ estimates that it would be able to quantify more than 80% of the measures by the end of a potential second term.
Legault “improvises”, denounces Nadeau-Dubois
François Legault’s energy plan had barely been announced, his opponent from Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, accused him of improvising.
“He shovels the problem forward. He says: I am going to ask Hydro-Quebec for studies to perhaps build new dams. We don’t need studies, we need actions now. We need action now. We need action now to quickly reduce greenhouse gas pollution in Quebec. If we want to achieve it, carbon neutrality, in 2050, we cannot wait for dams that will be built in decades and decades,” he said.
“I would like us to ask Mr. Legault which rivers he wants to harness to build his new dams. […] I don’t oppose roadblocks on principle because I don’t like it. What I’m telling you is that it’s not necessary to meet our GHG reduction targets,” he added.
With Charles Lecavalier