(Quebec) Hydro-Québec has reached an agreement with the Innu nation of Essipit and an MRC to develop a “large-scale” wind project on the border of Saguenay and the North Shore. This future park is part of the new wind strategy of the state company which targets projects “that can reach beyond 1000 megawatts”.
Posted at 2:28 p.m.
The mysterious project, about which we still know very little, was revealed Wednesday morning in the Gazette official. It was to be the subject of a formal announcement the same day in the presence of Prime Minister François Legault. However, the agreement reached with Newfoundland on the Churchill Falls issue forced Quebec to postpone the press conference.
The future park will be located in the Nutinamu-Chauvin area. Zec Chauvin, located east of Sacré-Cœur on the north shore of the Saguenay, confirms that the government plans to install wind turbines on its territory. Nutinamu means “moves with the wind” in Innu-aimun.
The three partners – Hydro-Québec, Essipit and the MRC Fjord-du-Saguenay – refused to provide details on the project. The announcement was postponed until January, and that is when the exact limits of the future wind farm will be known, as well as its power.
One thing is certain, according to our information, this will be a “large-scale” and “large-scale” project. It will be part of Hydro-Québec’s new wind development strategy, unveiled last May.
This strategy aimed to return the reins of wind development to the state company, with larger projects far from inhabited areas. The strategy provides for projects “that could reach beyond 1000 megawatts”. By way of comparison, the Apuiat wind farm north of Port-Cartier, also built in partnership with the Innu, has a power of 200 MW.
“We can no longer develop small projects here and there as we have been doing,” explained the CEO of Hydro-Québec, Michael Sabia.
The state corporation wants to depend less on private developers and is now responsible for planning the development of parks, reaching agreements with municipalities and First Nations communities and being the project manager and shareholder of future projects.
Hydro-Québec has significant ambitions for wind. It has set a goal of adding more than 10,000 MW of new wind capacity by 2035.
Further west in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Hydro-Québec announced last summer what will be the largest wind farm in North America, with a power of 3,000 MW. The 9 billion project will be carried out in partnership with two indigenous communities.
