Wind Power News: Quebec
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Wind turbine project on Quebec’s North Shore quickly spiralling into an election issue
A Quebec wind farm project – under negotiation since 2015 – is quickly becoming a contentious political issue, in the days leading up to the official start of the provincial election. Members of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) have panned the Liberal Party’s plan to construct some 50 wind turbines near the town of Port-Cartier, in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region. The Apuiat project would produce an estimated 400 megawatts annually in partnership with the private renewable energy firm, Boralex, and it’s being developed . . . Complete story »
Is wind power blowing holes in Hydro-Québec’s profits?
On the eve of an election call, Quebec’s main party leaders have gone to battle over a wind-power project that Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard argues is crucial to good relations with First Nations but that François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec calls “useless” and “ruinous.” The head of Hydro-Québec, which would purchase all of the power from the 200-megawatt Apuiat wind-energy development on Quebec’s remote North Shore, has warned that the project would cause losses of between $1.5-billion and $2-billion for . . . Complete story »
Wind farm project on Quebec’s North Shore divides government, Hydro Quebec
A wind farm project planned for the North Shore of Quebec is putting the provincial government at odds with Hydro Quebec. The Innu first nation that lives in the region between Baie Comeau and Sept Iles has been promoting the Apuiat wind turbine project for several years. The $600 million, 200 MW wind farm was first proposed three years ago as part of Hydro Quebec’s 2006-2015 plan to increase renewable energy capacity by 4,000 MW. Its supporters say the Apuiat . . . Complete story »
Border Water Co. about to lose say over Holland wind turbine
HOLLAND – Officials with a border-straddling water company serving Derby Line and Stanstead, Quebec, wanted to have a say over the siting of a large wind turbine on a dairy farm in Holland. But a Vermont utility regulator says the company still has to follow the rules when it comes to the review of wind projects. If they don’t, they can’t participate. That’s the gist of an order issued to International Water Company by Thomas Knauer, hearing officer for the Vermont . . . Complete story »
International Water Company criticized over Dairy Air Wind
HOLLAND – The hearing officer in the Dairy Air Wind Project petition scolded the International Water Company serving Derby Line and the town of Stanstead, Quebec, for not following protocols and ordered officials to cooperate. The water company is led by Stanstead town officials and governed by an international board of directors with representatives from both border communities. The water company questioned whether the installation of a proposed 499-foot-tall wind turbine on Dairy Air Farm would affect its nearby water line . . . Complete story »
More Quebec towns get party status in Dairy Air hearings
HOLLAND – The officer overseeing the review of the Dairy Air Wind Project gave party status to an international water company and several Quebec towns to participate in the case. But Thomas Knauer, handling the hearings over the proposed 499-foot-tall wind turbine on Dairy Air Farm for the Vermont Public Utilities Commission, sent the Derby Select Board and several other interested parties back to the drawing board to explain why they should be involved. And Knauer said, in an order issued . . . Complete story »
Quebec ruling reaffirms research data confidentiality
The Superior Court of Quebec has ruled in favour of researcher Marie-Ève Maillé, who will not be required to disclose the confidential research data she collected in 2010. In the ruling handed down on May 31, 2017, Justice Marc St-Pierre retracted his previous decision dated February 13, 2016, which compelled the Université du Québec à Montréal researcher to share her raw data with Éoliennes de l’Érable, a company behind a wind power project in Quebec. Maillé did not hide her . . . Complete story »
Dairy Air Wind Project draws Quebec town opposition
HOLLAND – A Quebec town has joined the opposition to the proposed Dairy Air Wind turbine. Coaticook, north of Norton and Holland, is in the viewshed of the planned 500-foot-tall turbine on a Dairy Air Farm field and wants to send representatives to be heard at hearings on the project before the Vermont Public Service Board. Coaticook has filed a request for intervention based on what the town says would be the impact on the area’s economy. “This project might affect . . . Complete story »
Anti-windmill protests heat up in St-Cyprien-de-Napierville
Protests against a future wind farm slated for prime agricultural land in southern Quebec have ramped up in St-Cyprien-de-Napierville. On Saturday, some farmers, local officials and residents marched against the 24-megawatt windmill project slated for St-Cyprien-de-Napierville, in the regional county municipality (MRC) of Jardins de Napierville. Many of the protesters – including a group of local mayors opposed to the project – drove farming machinery and other vehicles from St-Cyprien-de-Napierville to Lacolle, near the Quebec-New York border crossing. The opposition to the . . . Complete story »
Les éoliennes devant les tribunaux
Au Québec, un deuxième groupe de citoyens veut intenter un recours collectif contre des promoteurs éoliens. Ils se plaignent du bruit et de la poussière, et craignent que leurs maisons ne perdent de la valeur. Ces résidents de Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf, dans Chaudière-Appalaches, tentent d’obtenir des tribunaux la permission d’exercer un recours collectif contre le promoteur éolien Invenergy et même contre Hydro-Québec, qui a retenu ce projet en milieu habité. Pierre Labranche participe au recours collectif. Les éoliennes du parc Des Moulins . . . Complete story »
