Hydro-Québec | 850 kilometers of lines and 1,600 more pylons

Hydro-Québec is adding 850 kilometers of lines and 1,600 pylons to its network in a first phase of expansion of its transmission network.

This is an investment of some 10 billion which is part of a development plan already announced to double the electricity production capacity which should cost between 150 and 180 billion.

This investment in the electricity transmission network is the largest in the last three decades, indicated Claudine Bouchard, executive vice-president and head of operations and infrastructure at Hydro-Québec, at a press conference.

It is not an infrastructure project but “a major social project,” argued Hydro-Québec, which must accept the new lines and the 1,600 additional pylons which will transform the landscape in 25 MRCs, 200 municipalities and 11 indigenous communities.

New very high voltage lines (725 kV), which are the equivalent of highways for the transport of electricity, will be built in three axes located on the North Shore, in the corridor between the Appalachians and Bas-St -Laurent and in the Saint-Laurent valley, between Quebec, Mauricie and the Lanaudière region.

Preliminary discussions have already begun with interested parties, announced Hydro-Québec, whose timetable is very ambitious. The commissioning of the new infrastructure will take place between 2031 and 2026, according to the state-owned company.

Hydro-Québec wants to add 5,000 kilometers of lines to its already 34,000 kilometer long transmission network to transport new electricity production to consumption centers. Half of the new lines will be very high voltage lines.