(Montreal) The door is not closed to a nationalization of the wind industry while Quebec intends to analyze the question, but the Minister of Energy and the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, affirms that his preference leans towards the sector private.
The Minister was asked why the wind power industry in Quebec was not developed by a public company as was the case for the large dams of Hydro-Quebec, during an event relating to the sector of the organized by the newspaper “Les Affaires”, Tuesday.
“That question is currently being studied,” confirms the Minister in response to a member of the audience. Me personally, I think that the private is better than the State. This is my personal opinion. »
The Ministry of Energy is consulting on the framework and development of clean energy. The goal is to table a bill this fall.
Hydro-Québec proceeds by call for tenders to obtain supplies from blocks of renewable energy. The Crown corporation then selects the projects proposed by the private sector that best meet its criteria.
Using its production activities, Hydro-Québec can carry out certain projects. In March, the state-owned company chose its own 159 megawatt (MW) project from among the seven selected in two calls for tenders for a total of 1303.36 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity.
If the door is open “because at this time we want to listen to people”, Mr. Fitzgibbon specifies, in scrum of the press, that the current situation would not lend itself to a nationalization of the wind energy industry in Quebec.
“We lack electricity. Can Quebec be enough for everything? No. The private sector has a role to play. We are open to discussion, but (the current way of proceeding) is not bad either. »
The possibility of allowing a greater number of companies to produce their own energy is also being considered. “You have to ask yourself the question. I cannot answer because we are consulting, but we need energy. »
In any case, Quebec would have its say. “We must not go to the other side (too much liberalisation) where everyone would do anything,” assures the minister.
Mr. Fitzgibbon, however, finds it difficult to see how the private sector could deal with the construction of large dams in Quebec. “The expertise in dams is Hydro-Québec. This is the value we have in Quebec. I can’t see why we would open this. There are private dams that exist, which we can continue to supply or increase their capacity. »