Hydro-Québec’s profits for the first six months of the year were lower than during the same period last year due to a reduction in exports. The state-owned company says it must “prudently” manage energy stocks because of the drop in water levels in reservoirs in 2023.
Thus, the net profit recorded reached 1.8 billion dollars during the first half – a six-month period – compared to almost 2.7 billion during the same period last year.
Hydro-Québec had to carefully manage energy stocks due to low water levels in 2023, which resulted in reduced sales outside the province.
Export volume fell by more than 50%, equivalent to a decrease of $919 million. Sales fell from $1.6 billion in the first half of 2023 to $700 million in the same period this year.
“Our results are in line with our projections,” assured Maxime Aucoin, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Finance, during the presentation of the results. The drop in water levels had no impact on supply in the province, assures Hydro-Québec.
Mr. Aucoin indicated that after the drop in water levels in the reserves, “conditions have moved closer to historical averages” in the first months of the year. Consequently, Hydro-Québec does not anticipate an increase in electricity sales outside Quebec in the coming months.
The low rainfall in 2023 cannot be used as an indicator of the trend in the coming years, he says: “When we look at long-term forecasts, we see that climate change is not expected to reduce precipitation. In fact, it should even increase it slightly.”
Hydro-Québec’s studies – conducted with the Quebec consortium on adaptation to climate change Ouranos – instead suggest “greater volatility” in precipitation over the years. “We just have to get used to having volatility from year to year and manage it prudently,” he says.
Electricity sales revenues have still increased in the province, even though mild temperatures have slowed electricity consumption this winter. In the first six months of 2024, sales in the province totaled $272 million.
Hydro-Québec explains this increase by an “increase in the number of subscriptions, especially in the residential and commercial sectors”, but also by rate increases in April 2023 and 2024.