The figure of 100 TWh, often cited as Hydro-Quebec’s target requirement by 2050 to meet Quebec’s needs, no longer holds true, Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon admits.
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“Is it 125 or 150 TWh? I have no idea. On the horizon of 2050, I only know one thing: no one really knows,” the minister admitted on Friday during a luncheon organized by the Montreal metropolitan board of trade.
We must therefore make decisions and change the mentality of Quebecers, says Mr Fitzgibbon. “Quebecs have been told for a long time that we have mass flow and that Hydro-Québec is part of their heritage,” he says.
To get the message across, the minister relies on the “experts”. “I think the experts will be able to prove to Quebecers that if we use less, we might have more energy for hospitals, schools and retirement homes.”
The minister counts among others on Professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau from the HEC. “These people need to explain to Quebecers that we’re probably consuming 50% too much, and it’s not just in the home.” […] This work must be done by people who are not only active in politics,” he said at a press conference.
- Listen to Philippe-Vincent Foisy’s interview with Pierre-Olivier Pineau, Professor at HEC Montréal and Chair in Energy Sector Management QUB radio :
US treaties are honored
For those wondering if the government intends to cancel certain export contracts, including those of Massachusetts and New York, to preserve energy for Quebec’s needs, the “superminister” was clear: “We can discuss what we do.” want, but Quebec will respect it.” “We are fulfilling our commitments,” he said to around 700 guests from business, government and academia who had gathered at the convention center.
“Would we have asked different questions at the time if we had known the current context? Naturally. “Conditions have changed, that’s obvious,” he admitted.
The challenge of finding more power to decarbonize Quebec will therefore primarily go through the population, companies and the famous “peak management”, he explained in his speech.
“I also hear people saying that there is no point in exporting our electricity and asking Quebecers to save energy so that they can better sell it to multinationals. That’s not what we’re proposing at all,” he said.
wind power to the rescue
Around forty wind farms are operational in Quebec, producing nearly 4,000 MW of energy. The Minister for Energy and Innovation wants to quadruple this installed capacity by 2040.
“I announced a tender for a 1500 MW wind power block last March. Hydro-Québec has identified several areas where we can rapidly integrate new wind farms, and we plan to launch another, even larger tender in the coming months,” he says.
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