Here comes the sun: Hydro-Quebec inaugurates its first solar power plants
Hydro-Quebec will now produce a new form of energy. The provincially run corporation inaugurated its first solar power plants on Monday, in La Prairie and Varennes, on Montreal's South Shore.
The two small-scale facilities are intended to determine whether the technology is well suited to "Quebec's climate, its generating fleet and its transmission system," the utility company said in a news release.
The two plants will have a combined installed capacity of 9.5 MW and will produce approximately 16 GWh of energy per year, equivalent to the consumption of 1,000 homes.
By comparison, Hydro-Quebec produces 37.2 GW per year, or 37,200 MW. The new plants will therefore represent about 0.025 per cent of production.
The two plants were originally scheduled to be commissioned last fall, but the power producer decided to postpone them because of the pandemic and because it was November, when there is less sunshine.
An Ottawa-funded study last month argued that Quebec and Canada would have "everything to gain" by focusing on solar energy, a potential that is currently untapped.
Quebec has similar sunshine conditions to Japan and Germany, which are world leaders in solar energy, Nergica researchers said.
PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE PIONEERS
The facility in La Prairie was named the "Gabrielle-Bodis plant" in honour of the first female engineer to graduate from Polytechnique Montreal and work for Hydro-Quebec for over 35 years.
It is also the first Hydro-Quebec power station that bears the name of a woman, said its president and CEO, Sophie Brochu.
The Gabrielle-Bodis generating station is located on the site of a former thermal power plant. It has an area of 150,000 square metres, the equivalent of 28 soccer fields, 26,000 solar panels and an installed capacity of 8 MW.
The Varennes power plant is named after Robert A. Boyd, the first French-speaking engineer at Hydro-Quebec and the organization's sixth boss.
Quebec owes "the success of the James Bay development and the francization of our engineering" to him, said Brochu.
The Robert A. Boyd Generating Station is adjacent to Hydro-Quebec's research institute. It has a surface area of 56,000 square metres, 4,600 solar panels and an installed capacity of 1.5 MW.
The solar plants join Hydro-Quebec's fleet of 61 hydroelectric plants and 24 thermal plants.
-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 21, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Ukrainian child asylum seekers in St. John’s get class of their own
Roughly 50 children will gathered in a St. John’s classroom for the first time on Saturday for unique lessons on Ukrainian language, culture and history.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.