POWER March 2011 - 50

POWER IN CANADA
er sources of electricity include nuclear,
wind, and thermal generation. As most of
Hydro-Québec's generation stations are
located at substantial distances from consumer
centers, its transmission system is
one of the most extensive and comprehensive
in North America.
While other Canadian provinces had
periods of little or no generation development,
Québec has remained fairly consistent
in building new assets. Since 2003,
Hydro-Québec has commissioned eight
new hydropower facilities and currently has
six more projects under construction. The
company's total investments in generation,
transmission, distribution, and energy efficiency
for the 2009-2013 timeframe are
expected to reach $25.1 billion. In April
2010, Minister of Natural Resources and
Wildlife Nathalie Normandeau announced
the latest strategy, which included spending
an additional $32 billion by 2035 to
expand capacity by 3,500 MW.
Québec also hosts one nuclear generating
3. From mill to power. The SainteMarguerite
I hydroelectric generating station
is 25 km west of Seven Islands, Québec, on
the first set of falls on the Sainte-Marguerite
River. The facility is located on the site of an
abandoned wood mill originally used for pulp
and paper manufacture.The mill ceased operations
in 1968, and the site was idle for 20
years before being acquired by Hydromega in
1989. At the base of the existing dam, an entirely
new generating station was constructed
between April 1992 and December 1993. It
is powered by an 8,500-kW Francis turbine.
Courtesy: Hydromega
station, Gentilly 2, which has a net installed
capacity of 635 MW. The facility began commercial
generation in 1983 and is currently
undergoing a $1.9 billion refurbishment that
is expected to be completed by 2012.
" The power business has been very
strong in Québec, and we see that continuing, "
maintains Denis Tremblay, president
of the Power Division at BPR, a multi-disciplinary
engineering firm that has been
active in power generation for 10 years
and has developed close ties with HydroQuébec
as a preferred supplier. " The government
and its utility have committed to a
great deal more investment in generation,
and that will also come with the need for
increased interconnection and lots of grid
improvements. "
Quebéc IPPs. Although Hydro-Québec
remains the dominant player, opportunities
for IPPs do exist in Québec. Hydromega became
the province's first IPP in 1987 and has
since developed a series of hydro and wind
power projects. Jacky Cerceau, president
and CEO of Hydromega (Figure 3), relates:
" Hydro-Québec launched a series of RFPs
[requests for proposals] in the early nineties.
It led to the development of a series of privately
developed projects. They were mostly
hydro but also included some wind and biomass.
In 2002, the focus of Hydro-Québec
was mainly on hydro. However, suitable hydroelectric
projects were becoming more and
more difficult to find, there was opposition
50
www.powermag.com
POWER | March 2011
http://www.powermag.com
POWER March 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER March 2011
