Elected officials from the region welcome Hydro-Québec’s vision for the wind sector

Elected officials from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean welcome Hydro-Québec’s desire for partnership with municipalities and indigenous communities for the development of wind projects.

The state-owned company announced earlier this week its intention to embark on the construction and operation of large wind farms, those with a capacity greater than 1,000 megawatts.

Historically, Hydro-Québec purchased wind energy from private projects that it authorized. Smaller projects would still be left to the private sector.

Hydro-Québec aims to add 10,000 megawatts of new wind capacity to its network by 2035.

The MRCs rejoiced

The prefects of the four regional county municipalities (MRC) in the region all applauded the new way of doing things.

According to the prefect of the MRC from Lac-Saint-Jean-Est, Louis Ouellet, the request for collaboration came from the municipal sector.

of Hydro-Québec]this week, is that wind power development with communities was going to be done over-the-counter for major projects. I think that together we have a means of negotiation and a strike force that can allow us as a whole region to come out ahead on territorial wind development”,”text”:”What Hydro told us -Quebec when we met Michael Sabia [le PDGd’Hydro-Québec] this week, it was that wind development with communities was going to be done over-the-counter for major projects. I think that together we have a means of negotiation and a strike force which can allow us as a whole region to come out ahead on territorial wind development”}}”>What Hydro-Québec told us when we met Michael Sabia [le PDG d’Hydro-Québec] this week, it was that wind development with communities was going to be done over-the-counter for major projects. I think that together we have a means of negotiation and a strike force which can allow us as a whole region to come out ahead on territorial wind development.mentioned Louis Ouellet.

For the prefect of the MRC from Domaine-du-Roy, Yanick Baillargeon, this is the perfect opportunity to develop the wind farm project in the La Doré sector.

There is a large sector which has excellent potential, which had already been targeted by Hydro-Québec. So, to form a partnership with Hydro-Québec, it is certain that it would be ideal for developing this energy block.mentioned Prefect Baillargeon.

The story was similar with the prefect of the MRC of Maria-Chapdelaine, Luc Simard.

This is exactly the model we advocate, the model we want to develop. So for us, we are very happy with this announcement, as we are going to be shareholders of the projects, that we are going to receive royalties, dividends. For the rest of us, it’s a very nice development toolshared Luc Simard.

There MRC du Fjord-du-Saguenay also wishes to develop the wind sector in the coming years. No project has yet been submitted so far.

MRC du Fjord-du-Saguenay to build a park or wind farms”,”text”:”If Hydro-Québec takes this in hand, perhaps it will be able to plan places, instead of going to call for tenders, then not knowing who will win. He will be able to plan places, then hoping that he will choose, for example, the MRC du Fjord-du-Saguenay to build a park or wind farms”}}”>If Hydro-Québec takes this in hand, perhaps it will be able to plan locations, instead of going to a call for tenders, then not knowing who will win. He will be able to plan places, then hoping that he chooses, for example, the MRC of the Fjord-du-Saguenay to build a park or wind farmsindicated prefect Gérald Savard.

Mashteuiatsh also applauds

The head of the Mashteuiatsh band council, Gilbert Dominique, also sees this collaboration favorably.

It is clear that as a First Nation, we certainly want to be involved as a high-level partner in energy development. In our opinion, this is the safest investmentsaid the chief of Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan.

Moreover, the Innu community is already associated with MRC of Maria-Chapdelaine and Domaine-du-Roy within the Community Energy Corporation of Lac-Saint-Jean which owns two hydroelectric power stations, namely the Val-Jalbert and 11 mini-power stations.^e fall.

No impact for Rio Tinto

As for Rio Tinto’s intention in Lac-Saint-Jean to supply its aluminum smelters with wind energy, the project is not affected by this announcement, since it involves self-production of electricity.

Rio Tinto is studying different options aimed at securing its supply of green energy in Quebec in order to support its growth and the decarbonization of its existing activities. Rio Tinto already works in close collaboration with Hydro-Québec and believes that the private company can be a partner to ensure Quebec’s energy independencesaid the multinational.

This project would be carried out in partnership with Mashteuiatsh and MRC, revealed Radio-Canada in January.

According to information from Kenza Chafik