Will the Legault government's battery sector companies one day use the technologies developed here by Hydro-Québec in their factories? That appears to be the case if we rely on the dozens of confidential agreements already signed with major players.
“Hydro-Québec is in discussions with around ten companies in the battery sector with which we have confidentiality agreements,” Francis Labbé, spokesman for the state-owned company, confirmed to the Journal, declining to disclose these agreements.
“This exchange is about the possibility of commercializing our patents or establishing research partnerships, with the aim of helping these companies establish themselves in Quebec and carry out permanent projects,” he continued.
In an interview with the Journal last week, economics professor at the School of Management at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Frédéric Laurin expressed serious doubts about the presence of Quebec innovations in battery factories built on Quebec soil.
“It doesn’t create innovation. “These are just assembly plants,” he denounced.
New World Graphite
The only public contract currently is Hydro's agreement with Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG), the state-owned company said. Last June, Le Journal told the story of its founder, Eric Desaulniers, who does not lack ambition.
Eric Desaulniers leads the development of Nouveau Monde Graphite. Photo Francis Halin
The mining company has been working with its Center of Excellence in Transport Electrification and Energy Storage (CEETSE) for almost four years.
The aim of the partnership is to develop a process for producing anode material for lithium-ion batteries.
In addition, Le Journal reported last month that a year after espionage allegations were leveled against a Hydro-Québec employee, the state-owned company was preparing to cut its ties with a Chinese institute linked to its electricity grid.
Interviewed by Le Journal, Hydro assured that no amount had been granted to the Chinese project and that it did not contain “Hydro-Québec's confidential data.”
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