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Wind Power News: Quebec
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Experts say Quebec wind turbine project threatens caribou habitat
The developers of a project to install wind turbines in a habitat that’s home to a vulnerable caribou herd in central Quebec say they intend to proceed, despite reservations from provincial and federal experts. Renewable energy company Boralex is partnering with Hydro-Québec and Energir on the project in the Charlevoix region, which would see the installation of 68 wind turbines. Seventeen of the turbines would be on land set aside by the province for a small and vulnerable herd of . . . Complete story »
Quebec introducing new rule to reduce bat deaths linked to wind farms
Quebec’s Environment Department says it is introducing a new measure to mitigate the impact of wind farms on bats native to the province. The government will require all future wind farm projects to increase turbine cut-in speeds – when the blades start rotating and generating power – to 5.5 metres per second at night between June 1 and Oct. 15. Those months coincide with the period of the year when bats are most active in North America – and when they are most . . . Complete story »
Un vent trop fort contre les citoyens [A wind too strong against the people]
[Their lawyer David Bourgoin pleaded the neighborhood disturbances between the 100-megawatt facility and an residential area located in a postcard environment: degradation of the landscape, disturbing noise and loss of home values. None of the citizens’ group’s arguments were accepted.] Alors que le Québec s’apprête à vivre un nouveau boom éolien, des citoyens qui se sont battus pendant 10 ans contre les nuisances des éoliennes dans leur coin de campagne au pied des Appalaches viennent de déposer les armes, écœurés . . . Complete story »
Nicolet: des vents contraires pour un projet d’éoliennes [Headwinds]
[The development of a wind farm in the Nicolet region is facing headwinds from a citizens’ opposition movement.] Le développement d’un parc éolien dans la région de Nicolet fait face à des vents contraires avec l’entrée en scène d’un mouvement d’opposition citoyenne. «Il y avait 200 personnes à Grand-Saint-Esprit l’autre soir. Certains étaient très en opposition, mais c’est quand même 200 personnes sur un total de 23 000 citoyens. Il y a une pétition de 700 noms qui a été déposée . . . Complete story »
NextEra is blocking a major new clean power transmission project
A major new transmission line intended to pipe carbon-free hydropower from Canada into the U.S. Northeast has met a powerful opponent: the world’s largest provider of renewable energy. The 145-mile (233-kilometer), nearly $1 billion transmission line, known as New England Clean Energy Connect, broke ground in February after nearly three years of review by regulators. If completed, it would be able to import 1.2 gigawatts of electricity from the Canadian utility Hydro-Quebec. That’s enough to reduce carbon emissions in the . . . Complete story »
Why cheap wind power is making Quebec’s big, old dams more valuable as a ‘battery,’ say experts
You might think that what with having Canada’s largest hydroelectric capacity, providing almost 100 per cent of the its electricity, including exports, a new $600-million wind power project is the last thing Quebec would need. That was exactly what experts were saying when Premier François Legault cancelled Apuiat, a private but government-supported wind project in Northern Quebec in 2018. But now as the province relaunches the project, power experts say an investment in wind will actually increase the value of . . . Complete story »
Legault reverses course on Apuiat wind farm, calls it a ‘win, win, win’
QUEBEC – Quebec’s energy future no longer depends on building more hydro dams, Premier François Legault said Thursday in announcing the return of a $600-million wind power farm on Quebec’s north shore, which he himself cancelled in 2018. It’s just the beginning, Legault said, noting wind power projects have evolved to a point where they make more financial sense than costly dams and are part of Quebec’s plan to shift away from oil. Asked by a reporter at a virtual news . . . Complete story »
François Legault puts the brakes on $600M Apuiat wind-farm project
QUEBEC CITY – Premier François Legault has scuttled the $600-million Apuiat wind farm project near Port Cartier on the North Shore, at least until Hydro-Québec has sold its surplus inventory. Legault made the announcement Thursday night after meeting for nearly two hours with Innu leaders in the offices of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources. The announcement put an end to several months of controversy, with critics having urged the newly elected premier to reconsider his position. “There will be . . . Complete story »
CAQ government looking to abandon $600M wind farm on Quebec’s North Shore
The Quebec government wants out of the contentious Apuiat wind farm project and has tapped Hydro-Québec to come up with an exit strategy, Radio-Canada has learned. The Apuiat project, first proposed in 2015, is to produce an estimated 200 megawatts annually from about 50 wind turbines on Quebec’s North Shore, near the town of Port-Cartier. Backed by the former Liberal government, the $600-million project was highly criticized by the CAQ’s François Legault during the election campaign. “We’re not going to . . . Complete story »
CAQ government mulls future of Apuiat wind-farm proposal
QUEBEC – The Coalition Avenir Québec government has asked Hydro-Québec to come up with a possible Plan B to replace the Apuiat wind farm project near Port Cartier on Quebec’s North Shore. But the partners in the project, wind power giant Boralex and the Innu Nation, are furious, saying the new government did not give them a chance to explain the plan before moving to put it on ice. They say if the government does kill it, Quebec will be missing . . . Complete story »
