BÉCANCOUR – The explosion in electricity needs will be such in the coming years that François Legault is coming back to the charge with new dam projects and promises to invest in the construction of wind farms, in addition to injecting millions of dollars into the energetic transition.
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“We had surplus electricity, there we will run out of electricity,” summarized Mr. Legault, in front of an audience of business people gathered in Bécancour, in the Centre-du-Québec region.
The leader of the Coalition avenir Québec took the opportunity to outline his vision of the path he would like Quebec to take to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
For François Legault, this necessarily involves an unprecedented increase in Quebec’s electricity production capacity.
Hydro-Quebec, he recalled, estimates that 100 TWh more will be needed by 2050.
The CAQ leader therefore promises to set in motion, if he is re-elected, the “largest economic and ecological project in the history of Quebec”.
“It’s the project that excites me the most. It keeps me in politics, ”said Mr. Legault later, answering questions from journalists.
-Listen to Alexandre Moranville-Ouellet at the microphone of Benoit Dutrizac on QUB radio:
Four commitments
– A CAQ government would ask Hydro-Québec to launch the studies necessary for the construction of new dams.
The duration of these projects would be about fifteen years, but the outgoing Prime Minister would like to proceed even more quickly. “Me, I find it too long, 15 years,” said the head of the CAQ, promises to collaborate with the Aboriginal and Inuit communities.
As for knowing where these dams will be located, it will be up to Hydro-Québec to submit “the beginnings of proposals in the coming months”, indicated Mr. Legault.
– In addition to what has already been announced, he would ask Hydro-Quebec to develop 3,000 MW of wind power, in different regions. “The beauty of wind power is that it is built quickly,” argued Mr. Legault.
– $50 million per year would be invested in a future mandate to triple the number of level 2 charging stations for electric cars (2-3 hours for a full charge), the number of which would increase from 6,500 to 21,500, in addition to double the number of fast terminals, from 1,000 to 2,200.
– $40 million would also be invested in the creation of a research center on electric batteries in the energy transition Valley project of Shawinigan-Trois-Rivières-Bécancour.
The context has changed
During the previous election campaign, in 2018, the head of the CAQ cherished the dream of new dams, arguing that a first CAQ government would launch a major hydroelectric development project.
The context has since changed: Hydro-Quebec has signed its largest electricity sales contract in history with New York. The surpluses that existed four years ago will soon be a thing of the past.
To meet future electricity needs, François Legault indicated on the sidelines of COP26 in Edinburgh last November that he intended to rely on wind energy, which has become less expensive, rather than on dams.
Shortly after coming to power, Prime Minister Legault also traveled to Toronto in the hope of convincing his counterpart Doug Ford to buy hydroelectricity in Quebec while participating in the construction of new dams, but without success.
Mr. Legault notably proposed that Ontario workers participate in the construction of new dams in Quebec, so as to supply the neighboring province with green energy.
But today, this file is closed, confirmed Mr. Legault. “What I understand from Doug Ford, he prefers to develop the nuclear industry, so it’s his choice,” dropped the chief caquiste.
The Parti Québécois is not opposed, a priori, to the construction of dams but has some reservations.
“We must open the door to electric dams […] But to promise all-out electric dams without starting with the first step, which is to ensure energy efficiency, it seems to me that we are skipping a step here, ”said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon passing through. in New Carlisle in Gaspésie.
For example, we must first reduce the energy consumed in the industrial sector in particular. ” [Il faut] encourage that the energy we already have is used in the most judicious way before starting other dams, quite simply. »
He adds that the construction of dams is not without environmental consequences and remains costly.
– With Annabelle Blais