At the end of the tender process last spring, Hydro ultimately selected eight projects from five different promoters. These projects ultimately enable the state-owned company's increasingly scarce reserves to be expanded by a production capacity of 1,550 megawatts (MW).
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The lion's share goes to three Quebec companies: Innergex with an installed capacity of 400 MW, Boralex with 365 MW and Kruger Énergie, a subsidiary of the paper company of the same name, with 343 MW.
Hydro Quebec
Together, these three companies will control six new wind farms with a total capacity of 1,108 MW, which represents 71% of the expected output of the eight projects in preparation (1,550 MW).
Foreign interests
These are deployed in five different major regions, most of them south of the St. Lawrence River, with the exception of one in Manicouagan on the north coast.
Two foreign companies were able to prevail from the field of finalists: Firstly, Invenergy, a private Chicago company that is particularly part of Blackstone, will be responsible for developments in the Rivière-du-Loup region.
A second company, Halifax-based Pattern Renewable Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American company of the same name, has won a contract for 150 MW, which it will produce using wind turbines installed in the Appalachian Mountains.
Hydro Quebec
This Hydro-Québec tender, launched on March 31, 2023, received a total of 16 proposals with a total capacity of 3,034 megawatts. Two thirds of the bidders probably came away empty-handed.
More expensive
Hydropower has an average cost of 7.8¢ per kilowatt hour (kWh). These costs do not include transport and compensation. This is a higher price than the average cost of 6.1 cents per kilowatt hour that Hydro-Québec paid in its December 2021 tender.
A situation that should not be surprising given the current context, says François Bouffard, associate professor of electrical engineering at McGill University. “The material, financing and labor costs… It's not just Quebec that is currently demanding wind turbines. Demand is strong, it is normal for costs to rise.”
Photo courtesy of Innergex
In its latest 2022-2026 strategic plan, Hydro-Québec projected its new supplies would cost an average of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Maxence Huard Lefebvre, spokesman for Hydro-Québec, is reassuring. He is convinced that the average supply costs provided for in the strategic plan will hold, even after adding transport and compensation costs, and will remain “in line with the current economic context”.
Until 2029
The eight new wind farms to be built should in principle be completed by December 2029. The first deliveries are expected from December 2027, in the Montmagny (Parc St-Paul-de-Montminy) and Montérégie (Parc Monnoir) regions.
Hydro-Québec ensures that each project is carried out in partnership with local communities and, in six of them, in collaboration with indigenous communities.
The successful developers are responsible for obtaining all permits and approvals required for the construction of the facilities before commencing construction work.
Hydro-Québec says it will finalize power purchase agreements with developers in the coming weeks. These contracts are then submitted to the Régie de l'énergie for approval.
Wind power in numbers in Quebec
2017
- Number of parks: 42
- Number of wind turbines: 2004
- Total output: 3918.3 MW
- Average power per wind turbine: 1.96 MW
2024
- Number of parks: 44
- Number of wind turbines: 2212
- Total output: 3932 MW
- Average output per wind turbine: 2.5 MW*
*Performance varies depending on the age of the wind turbines. The oldest offer an average power of 0.3 MW, while the youngest offer an average power of 6.6 MW
Source: Hydro-Québec
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