If he wants to achieve his climate goal of “Carbon neutral”, Quebec will not only have to reduce its energy demand, but also add an electricity production capacity equivalent to 17 hydroelectric complexes such as the Romaine River, concludes a report produced for the Government of Quebec. The majority of this growth could come from the wind energy sector, but Hydro-Québec does not rule out the construction of new dam projects.
Mandated by the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change (MELCC) to produce a report detailing the “possible trajectories” to meet the objectives of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the firm “Dunsky Énergie + Climat” comes to this conclusion: Quebec should increase its electricity production capacity by 65% by 2050 (compared to 2016).
This very significant increase in capacity, which is estimated at 137 terawatt-hours (TWh), is equivalent to adding 17 complexes such as the one on the Romaine River, or even multiplying by 12 the current annual production of the wind power sector. An ambitious but realistic objective, since it is declined “over a horizon of 30 years”, summarizes the president of the firm, Philipe Dunsky, in an interview with the To have to. “The addition of wind farms, solar panels or new dams could raise issues of social acceptability”, nevertheless underlines the report.
Dunsky Energy + Climate also insists on the need to focus on energy efficiency, in order to reduce “total demand” over the next few years, in a context of accelerated electrification of transport and industries, but also of energy. heating of buildings.
Achieving this objective will also require major transformations in Quebec society. “To increase the density of cities, to promote public transport, to turn to the train for the transport of goods, all this will require a profound change of orientation in terms of transport and regional planning”, underlines the report, which was greeted by the Minister of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, Benoit Charette.
However, these changes should be beneficial for the development of technologies and for the economy of the province, even if the oil and gas sectors will inevitably have to cut jobs in the coming years. “We must not lose sight of the fact that it is a question of replacing imported fossil fuels with local energy production, with all that this implies in terms of economic spinoffs in Quebec as positive effects on our trade balance,” argues Mr. Dunsky.
Challenge for Hydro-Québec
Hydro-Québec spokesperson Marc-Antoine Pouliot acknowledges that the increase in production that will be necessary over the next few years and decades represents a challenge. He adds that Quebec’s “theoretical” production capacity is “very large” in terms of hydroelectricity, but also solar and wind energy, two sectors where production costs have fallen in recent years.
Is it possible to generate a 65% increase in production by 2050 without building new dams? “We have no plans for new hydroelectric power stations,” said Mr. Pouliot, specifying that to meet demand for the next decade, Hydro-Québec intends to launch two calls for tenders this year, one in solar energy. and one for “renewable energy”. Two solar energy parks were also inaugurated this year, in order to assess Quebec’s potential in this area.
The Crown Corporation is not closing the door to new hydroelectric projects, however, although the priority is currently to complete that of the Romaine river. This could make it possible to produce so-called “basic” energy, which would be “available at all times, especially during peaks of consumption”. For exemple, the Legault government set aside a protected area project which would have made it possible to preserve 2,600 km2 of territory along the Magpie River, located on the North Shore, in order to protect the hydroelectric potential of this river.
Holder of the Chair in Energy Sector Management at HEC Montréal, Pierre-Olivier Pineau believes that the expected strong demand could be met by the development of the wind energy sector and the solar sector, due to the fall in costs. “There is enormous development potential for solar and wind power, which are easier and faster to build than dams,” he underlines. According to him, the priority should however be “to reduce demand”, and therefore to fight against our “overconsumption”, which would “limit as much as possible the needs for new production facilities”.
Even if Hydro-Quebec assures that it does not want to develop new hydroelectric projects for the moment, the general manager of the Société pour la nature et les parcs Québec, Alain Branchaud, and the president of the Rivières Foundation, Alain Saladzius, still fear highlighting such projects. These could block territorial protection projects, according to Mr. Branchaud. “The solution to meeting commitments to climate change certainly does not go through harnessing all of Quebec’s rivers and streams,” adds Mr. Saladzius.
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