The Mauricie Project, led by TES Canada, will produce, upon its commissioning in 2028, nearly 70,000 tonnes of green hydrogen intended for 100% Quebec use.
According to the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, this would be a “self-production” project, since two thirds of the current necessary for the operation of the factory (1000 MW), located in Shawinigan, will come from its own wind turbines and solar panels. A perfectly legal project, according to our minister, who adds by specifying that such projects should be encouraged, in a context where Hydro-Québec (HQ) cannot currently meet demand.
Note that this is not “self-production” stricto sensu, since the plant will be powered by HQ (150 MW). Thus, far from being complementary, this energy contribution is essential to the realization of the project: since the operating costs of the factory depend 80% on the price of electricity, the disguised subsidy constituted by the industrial electricity rate the lowest in North America largely contributes to its financial feasibility, and the balancing service, which corrects the intermittency of wind and solar energy production, ensures smooth operation, continuously, 24 hours a day, seven days out of seven, of its industrial processes.
It will also be a project of excess since TES Canada will have to deploy, to generate the additional 1000 MW, nearly 600,000 solar panels over more than a square kilometer and disperse 140 wind turbines over an area of at least 150 km.2.
The candid questions set out in the participant’s notebook during the consultation on the supervision and development of clean energies in Quebec (an example: “Would other models, than the one already offered by HQ, make it possible to improve the “offer? (modulation of distribution exclusivity, self-production, micronetworks, etc.)”) and the minister’s uninhibited assurance raise fears of an erosion of the regulatory pact which prevails in the production, transport and distribution sector electricity in Quebec since the 1940s.
In our opinion, the Mauricie Project acts as a Trojan horse by establishing a new “green” electricity trust.
This historic regulatory pact establishes the monopoly of HQ, whose primary and essential mandate is to provide, in particular thanks to the monopoly granted to it, affordable energy and reliable service without undue discrimination between customers.
“Improving supply” under the cover of climate emergency and increasing demand – the latter largely resulting from government canvassing of energy-intensive industries – by “encouraging” self-production and private production sold directly to a large consumer (private electricity purchase contract) poses existential risks to the largest public company in Quebec: fragmentation of territorial uniformity (key objective of the nationalization of HQ), weakening of its financial health with, ultimately , an increase in electricity rates to compensate.
The terrifying “death spiral” rightly mentioned by the former CEO of HQ Éric Martel will potentially be triggered: fewer industrial customers to assume the costs of transport and distribution and the financing of supplies future (supplies), increased prices, fewer industrial customers to assume transport and distribution costs and financing of future supplies (supplies), etc.
And the pharaonic action plan “Towards a decarbonized and prosperous Quebec”, presented by the current CEO, Michael Sabia, barely three months after taking office, could amplify this disastrous trend: this plan, which seems produced in the moment and written on a napkin, predicts the doubling of current production capacity by 2050 and could cost up to 185 billion dollars by 2035. But who will pay, exactly? Rest assured, the former big boss of the Caisse de dépôt is banking on private partners to help HQ finance its ambitions.
Remember that Quebec, already 46% decarbonized, is in an enviable situation compared to the rest of the world: in fact, only Iceland (90%) and Norway (56%) have higher proportions of renewable energies in their supply. It would have been wise, on the part of well-advised leaders, to take advantage of this “competitive” advantage to take a break, the time to adopt a policy coupled with integrated planning of energy resources, realistic, prudent and resulting from a vast public debate. An opportunity also to propose an innovative social project, which respects the social and economic pact that Quebec has given itself, which aspires (again!) to a broader and equitable distribution of wealth through the pooling of resources.
But what are Messrs. Legault, Fitzgibbon and Sabia ultimately offering us through this unconditional support for the Mauricie Project? The denationalization of electricity, the quiet privatization of our state company and the pursuit of frenzied productivism, predatory of public funds and of what remains of nature, most often instrumented by private capital and foreign interests. A future with no other vision than the business-minded one of creating jobs paying to, perhaps, do as well as Ontario!
And this, without any legitimacy, because, as Boucar Diouf so judiciously said: “We have never voted for what Pierre Fitzgibbon is trying to do! » So, can’t wait for a referendum on our energy! Because we must as quickly as possible withdraw this carte blanche, given to politicians, which absolves them of any responsibility, financial or otherwise, under the pretext that they are acting in the climate “emergency” and allegedly for the greater good of the planet!