Energy and hydroelectric dams

A river must meet several criteria to be harnessed: water flow, height difference, reservoir capacity, potential additional tributaries (river diversion), soil quality limiting erosion and to contain the water, location (more expensive).

The large natural rivers best suited for imposing structures have already been harnessed or diverted towards a reservoir. The next rivers risk being remote, requiring major site development work, requiring the diversion of rivers and involving other costly operations.

We asked Hydro-Québec about the nature of the preliminary studies on the Petit Mécatina river. We were told that a preliminary study consisted of “assessing the technical, economic, environmental and social pre-feasibility of a project. (…) In the field, those responsible for the study carry out the following activities:

• Exchange and follow-up meetings with local authorities and indigenous communities
• Development of an access strategy to the territory targeted by field activities
• Acquisition of cartographic, hydrometric, geological and environmental data
• Assessment of the reception capacities of the environment to better plan the logistical organization of activities in the field”.

Hydro-Québec’s production park has 61 hydroelectric power plants and 24 thermal power plants, which represents an installed capacity of 37.2 GW. In addition, its hydroelectric developments include 28 large reservoirs with a storage capacity of more than 176 TWh, to which are added 681 dams and 91 regulating structures according to Hydro-Québec data.

We must increase energy production in order to achieve the energy transition, that is to say, to get rid of our fossil fuels. How much should be produced? It depends on our willingness to implement bold energy saving measures.

The potential is enormous: renovation of poorly insulated homes, reform of the building code to properly insulate new construction, dynamic pricing, massive investments in public transport, etc. If we only replace 5 million gasoline cars with electric cars, we will have to produce a lot more. And that's without taking into account the provincial government's desire to attract energy-intensive industries in a context of job shortages, the biodiversity crisis and the necessary energy transition.

This is not the case everywhere in the world: some hydroelectric power plants have a worse ecological footprint than coal-fired power plants. Fortunately, this is not the case in Quebec. If hydroelectricity is an energy preferable to many others, the fact remains that it is not a clean energy: it is a renewable energy, which has environmental impacts.

For example, large reservoirs fragment the territory, sometimes with endangered species and emit greenhouse gases, especially in the first years of service. What's more, alternatives with less damaging effects exist, so why compare hydroelectricity to the worst energies rather than the best?

A range of alternatives exist. None constitutes the ultimate answer to our needs; it is their combination that must be considered. Learn more in our article on the subject.

The construction of power plants generates a lot of local employment, especially at the time of construction, and to a certain extent, during the operating period, but it is not the only option for generating employment in the sector. Energy. For example, a home improvement program is likely to create more jobs nationally.

Then, if we want to talk about what is good for our economy, let's talk about energy with the lowest unit cost. For example, the production cost of wind power was 6.10 cents per KWh in Hydro-Québec's latest call for tenders, which is less expensive than the energy produced by the Romaine complex whose costs were evaluated at 8.05 cents per KWh in 2009.

Finally, we would be mistaken to approach wealth only from an economic perspective. A natural resource also has recreational and social value in addition to providing ecosystem services.

The construction of hydroelectric power stations is a great technical achievement of the 20th century and one that awakens a feeling of pride on which the provincial government is currently banking. It must be admitted that what once enlivened the nationalist spirit is today much less interesting: almost all of the rivers offering cheap hydroelectric potential are already in use.

We must therefore turn to rivers in much more distant territories, at greater cost. On the other hand, technological advances make it possible to turn to lower-impact alternatives compared to hydroelectricity.