Hydro-Québec: an ambitious, forward-looking action plan for Québec

November 2, 2023 - The AIEQ applauds Hydro-Québec's ambitious 2035 Action Plan - Towards a Decarbonized and Prosperous Quebec - presented today! The plan aims to reduce greenhouse gases, meet projected growth in electricity demand and offer consumers reliable, simple and affordable service. With this plan, Hydro-Québec hopes to initiate a targeted dialogue with stakeholders to achieve its 5 priorities and add 60 TWh to its grid by 2035, and between 8,000 and 9,000 MW.

"Hydro-Québec wants to double the amount of renewable energy it uses by 2050. We applaud the speed of deployment in the action plan, as well as the place that wind, solar and energy storage will take in Quebec's energy mix. This plan offers predictability to the electricity industry ecosystem. Our members are ready to take up this challenge," says Marie Lapointe, CEO of the AIEQ.

Among other things, this plan provides for :

• Offer consumers reliable, affordable services, with a focus on improving network reliability (-35% outages in 7 to 10 years).
• Help customers participate in better energy consumption (targets of 21 TWh by 2035 with a dedicated team; several options will be explored, including financial support)
• Increase electricity production (3,800 to 4,200 MW) through :
  • Refurbishment of existing power plants (+2,000 MW)
  • A pumped storage power plant
  • 1,200 MW more hydroelectricity
  • Much more wind power, solar power (300 MW) with 125,000 customers and energy storage
  • More self-production
  • Offshore wind exploration
  • And to connect the loads of all customers to these new sources, ($45 B 9 billion in transmission network and interconnections)
• Involve Aboriginal communities in projects (economic reconciliation)
• continue to be an agile, innovative and transparent organization