Can you give an introduction to Hydro Québec and the services you provide to mining companies in the province?

Hydro Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity across Québec, including the Abitibi, James Bay, and Northern regions, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeastern US. We work with several companies in the mining sector, mainly working with gold and iron mines, but we have a few strategic metal projects, such as lithium, nickel, and graphite, in our servicing portfolio as well. For more than a century, industrial and mining development in Québec has been stimulated by the abundance of hydroelectric resources.

Hydro Québec is one of the largest hydropower producers in the world, and approximately 99% of our energy production is from renewable hydro sources. Our hydropower system is vast, with over 60 hydroelectric generating stations connected to a robust grid with close to 260,000 km of transmission and distribution lines. We are proud that we can be part of the solution to the major challenges facing North America by reducing GHG emissions and ensuring a secure supply of electricity in support of the clean energy transition, continuing to connect increasingly more customers to the grid with clean energy.

Do you think that the push towards electrification will mean more work and customers for Hydro Québec?

Electrification is only truly sustainable if the energy is generated from renewable sources, and therefore, mining operations in Québec have a great advantage as there is the availability of hydropower. Mining operations are often located in extremely remote areas, and we are seeing increased demand for building transmission lines into the remote areas of Québec with mining projects wanting to connect to the grid to make use of this low-cost, environmentally friendly power source for their operations. Hydro Québec will have to look into building these transmission lines in remote areas to serve the mining operation located there, but currently, it is not a pressing issue and is probably more of a 10 to 15-year plan.

There are already many mines connected to Hydro Québec’s grid. Demand in all sectors is going to grow significantly over the next few years. Hydro Québec will have to increase production to even adequately serve the urban areas, but at the same time, we will work on energy efficiency to reduce demand where it is possible to do so.

What role can Québec play in being a leader in the green electric transition in the coming years?

In addition to clean energy required for the fast-growing EV market, it has become extremely important to decarbonize industrial processes, and increasingly more companies are looking to access clean energy to be able to have greener operations. Over the past two years, we have seen a significant increase in demand from new industrial projects coming online, and it will be a great challenge to connect all these projects as there is only as much availability. Our grid has a capacity of approximately 40,000 MW, but over the last few months, we have seen demand for 23,000 MW from new projects. To address this challenge of demand exceeding supply, the government is putting policies in place to evaluate projects, and the most promising for the economy of Québec will be favored. Bill No. 2 specifies, amongst other things, that given the significant demand for electricity to be expected in the coming years, the Act respecting the Régie de l'énergie (chapter R-6.01) is amended to better regulate Hydro Québec's obligation to distribute electricity. In the past, we were obligated to supply electricity to any industrial project under 50 MW, but the government will now be in a position to choose the most promising industrial projects for Québec and focus on specific sectors. If there are mining projects selected as favorable, we will work with these mining companies on the construction of new grids if necessary, as well as the design of their plants to be as energy efficient as possible to reduce demand.

What will be the key priorities for Hydro Québec as pertains to the mining industry in 2023 and beyond?

Hydro Québec will work with our industrial customers to optimize their projects in terms of energy efficiency to reduce their energy demands, allowing us to serve more projects.