Quebec launches wind and renewable energy projects to meet growing demand
Hydro-Québec, a government-owned public utility, will probably be placing out two requires tender for large renewable vitality tasks in an effort to fulfill rising calls for for electrical energy whereas sustaining the federal government’s environmental commitments.
Premier François Legault made the announcement Wednesday whereas he was within the province’s Gaspé area, together with Minister of Vitality and Pure Assets Jonathan Julien.
A primary block of 1,000 megawatts will probably be reserved for wind energy and a second block of 1,300 megawatts will probably be dedicated to renewable sources, the federal government mentioned in a press release.
Within the assertion, Sophie Brochu, president and CEO of Hydro-Québec, mentioned the company forecasts Quebec’s demand for electrical energy will rise 12 per cent between 2019 and 2029.
She mentioned this challenge will assist reply to that rising demand.
Legault mentioned neighborhood participation will probably be among the many standards that firms must meet with the intention to fulfill the name for tenders for 1,000 megawatts of wind energy.
“We’re taking concrete motion for the setting and to create wealth with Quebec employees,” mentioned Legault.
Quebec wind farms presently produce almost 4,000 megawatts.
Wednesday’s announcement is a part of the federal government’s plan to cut back greenhouse gasoline emissions by 37.6 per cent in comparison with 1990 and obtain carbon neutrality by 2050.
That is the second such announcement to return in simply over 4 months. In December, Hydro-Québec launched two requires tenders totalling 780 megawatts to fulfill the long-term electrical energy demand.
Distant communities in Canada are nonetheless overwhelmingly reliant on diesel gas for heating and electrical energy era, based on a 2020 report by the Pembina Institute, and are liable for the burning of greater than 682 million litres of diesel every year.
Three million litres of that’s burned yearly by the small, twin Cree and Inuit communities of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik, in northern Quebec.
Within the absence of future hydroelectric energy tasks on the horizon, Hydro-Québec has been shifting into different domains resembling wind and photo voltaic in recent times.
It has additionally fashioned a subsidiary designed to assist clients enhance their vitality effectivity, and it’s engaged on large-scale batteries that may retailer surplus vitality.
