Northvolt plans to pump 25 million litres of water per day from the Richelieu River to supply its future plant and the company says it is confident it will be able to discharge the water used in industrial processes into the river while respecting “discharge standards that will be established for the project.”
The Swedish multinational has revealed some details of the water pumping and discharge system that it wants to install in the Richelieu River as early as 2025, in order to cool equipment in its future factory, but also to carry out certain industrial processes.
Northvolt is counting on a “hybrid system” that will involve pumping 25 million litres of water from the river every day, or more than nine billion litres of water per year. The company estimates that this represents “0.06% of the total flow” of the Richelieu River and that this system is significantly less demanding, in terms of water, than the one used for another plant located in Sweden.
According to the company, the water discharged into the river after being used in its industrial complex will not pose a risk to the environment. It promises to comply with the “discharge standards that will be established for the Northvolt Six project based on the quality of the Richelieu River in its current state, the nature of our discharges and our processes.”
As for the copper redhorse, Northvolt says it wants to “minimize the impact on its habitat” by pumping water from the deepest areas of the watercourse. The plant area and all along the Richelieu River contain essential and legally protected habitats for the species, which is unique to Quebec and classified as “endangered” by the federal government.
This means that it is strictly forbidden to destroy any part of this habitat unless you obtain a “permit” from the federal government. And this permit can only be granted if it is requested for “scientific research”, an “activity that benefits the species” or if the project “only affects the species incidentally”.
The information released by the company is the only information currently available regarding the water pumping and discharge project, since the Northvolt plant was not subject to the environmental assessment procedure imposed on all major industrial projects in Quebec. The company therefore did not have to produce an impact study or go through the process that would have led to a review by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE).
The information relayed Thursday by Northvolt is part of the company’s efforts, which have been underway for several months, to obtain the necessary authorizations to pump and discharge water into the Richelieu River, as recently revealed The Duty.
More details to come.