By the end of the next two decades, our additional electricity needs will be 100 TWh (100 billion kilowatt hours). This corresponds to the production of the James Bay hydroelectric complex (La Grande, Eastmain-1, Eastmain-1-A and Sarcelle-Rupert).
We talk. Do you know how much it would cost to build a similar hydroelectric power plant today? Possibly three times more expensive than then, i.e. 80 to 90 billion dollars, instead of the 27 billion that were spent in the three construction phases between 1973 and 2002.
On what basis do I arrive at this astronomical sum of 80 to 90 billion US dollars? On the construction costs of the last hydroelectric complex, La Romaine, built by Hydro-Québec. We’re talking about around $900 million per TWh produced.
Legault’s dream
Note to Roy Dupuis, our famous actor, activist and environmentalist, and to all environmentalists in Quebec: the projects to build new dams that François Legault dreams of are likely to multiply in the coming years.
To make his dream come true, François Legault found his “man” by appointing as head of Hydro-Québec none other than Michael Sabia, former CEO of the Caisse de dépôt etplacement du Québec and former federal deputy finance minister, in whom we owe our trust to Justin Trudeau famous “Canada’s Economic Response Plan to Respond to COVID-19.”
- Listen to the economy part with Michel Girard above QUB radio :
Sabia is considered a very experienced manager and is not afraid of controversy. And when he has a project in mind, nothing can stop him. Let’s take it for granted!
Words from François Legault: “We haven’t done much major work at Hydro-Québec in the last 25 years. But prepare yourself. Michael (Sabia) works very, very hard. There will be many announcements about dams, dam modernization and wind power. »
On the table…
This suggests that the state-owned company has several large hydroelectric projects under review that are capable of meeting Quebec’s huge future needs for electricity production capacity.
Quebec’s transition to a low-carbon economy, the electrification of transport, the construction of new battery factories for electric cars, the “green” transformation of already established industries, the growth of exports to the United States, etc. . result in the demand for our electricity increasing significantly.
Archive photo, Simon Clark
According to the “Strategic Plan 2022-2026,” more than 100 TWh of additional clean electricity will be needed by 2050 to enable Quebec to achieve carbon neutrality.
This represents more than half of Hydro’s current annual production capacity.
Gone are the days of excess electricity.
The costs are exploding
Thanks to our hydropower heritage, we have been able to benefit from historically low and stable electricity supply costs. To supply the Quebec market, we rely on a block of 165 TWh of historical electricity, delivered to us at the advantageous price of 3¢/kWh.
Future electricity purchases to meet future needs will cost enormously more, Hydro-Québec warns in its strategic plan.
As evidence of this, the average cost of post-heritage energy and power, taking into account existing contracts and planned purchases in short- and long-term markets, is currently 11¢/kWh
Diploma
“The investment required to strengthen our network and adapt to growth will be significant, particularly as some of our assets are aging and will therefore need to be replaced or upgraded. “We are thus beginning a new cycle of significant investments that will extend over several years,” says the strategic plan 2022-2026.
