Canada - Quebec Plans C$25 Billion boost to hydro and wind power

Quebec expects to significantly expand its hydro- and wind-generated electricity projects and increase its power exports as part of the 2006 -15 strategic energy plan it unveiled Thursday. Provincial Premier Jean Charest outlined C$25 billion (US$22.5 billion) in investments that would add 4,500 megawatts of hydro-electric power and 4,000 MW of wind-driven power. The expansion in generating capacity would be in addition to the planned C$4 billion, 888 MW Eastmain-1 project that is under environmental assessment and expected to go into service between 2009 and 2012.

Quebec's hydro-electric power generation resources totalled 41,340 MW at the end of 2005, including supplies from Newfoundland's Churchill Falls plant in Labrador. Hydro-electric energy accounts for 94 percent of Quebec's total electricity resources. The province's 675 MW Gentilly-2 is its only nuclear plant. It will need substantial investment to prolong its life beyond 2011, and the government's new policy seeks to limit nuclear energy development. The plan would boost Quebec's wind-driven electricity generation capacity to 4,000 MW from about 200 MW now. Wind-driven power is generally much more expensive to produce than hydro-electric power.

Quebec's latest plan rivals the ambitions of the province's massive hydro projects of the early 1970s, which included reversing the flow of northern rivers and building massive hydro-electric dams and transmission corridors. "We have a hydro-electric potential that can ensure our energy security, support the establishment of prosperity creating industries, and generate the ability to export to neighboring markets," Charest said in a statement. The plan foresees the creation of 70,000 direct jobs and a boost in power exports, once the province's own needs are met. Quebec's power exports fell to 1.5 terawatt hours in 2004 from 22 TWh in 1995. They rose to 6.7 TWh last year as Hydro-Quebec's water reservoir levels rose. One TWh hour of electricity can light and heat 50,000 homes for a year.

Provincially owned Hydro-Quebec generates and distributes the bulk of the province's electricity and, in recent years, has been paying handsome dividends into provincial coffers, largely because of profits made on power exports. In 2005, the value of power exports to other provinces and the United States surged to C$830 million from C$384 million a year earlier as market prices rose. Hydro-Quebec has argued that it needs new generating capacity just to supply the growing needs of the province of 7.5 million. It expects provincial domestic needs to rise by 250 MW a year. From 1994 to 2001 Hydro-Quebec's large development projects were pushed to the back burner in the face of opposition by aboriginal and environmental groups.

Several projects are already under construction, representing investments of more than C$4.5 billion to produce 1,100 MW of power by 2008. The province also expects to maintain its policy of offering advantageous power pricing to large industrial customers such as metal smelters.