Energy Strategies - Quebec

Ministry of Energy

Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune


Minister

The Honourable Serge Simard


Documents


Quebec Overview

Released in 2006, Quebec’s energy strategy, Using Energy to Build the Quebec of Tomorrow, outlines the provincial government’s policy actions on energy through 2015, including those of the Hydro-Quebec, the province’s wholly owned energy corporation. Wide-ranging, the document includes actions on offshore oil development in the gulf of St. Lawrence and estuary, energy-saving targets for public institutions (e.g., Hydro-Québec must increase its energy savings from 4.1 to 8.0 TWh and Gaz Métro and Gazifère must increase their energy savings target to 350 million cubic metres) and, because of the importance of Hydro-Quebec to the province’s energy mix: hydroelectric development and pricing, the latter with a particular emphasis on continued affordability.

The specifics of the province’s hydroelectric development are outlined in Hydro Quebec’s Strategic Plan: 2009 – 2013, which also addresses the provincial corporation’s “firming” of wind power development, supporting the 4,000 MW of wind-generated electricity the province has targeted for 2015. As in most provincial and territorial energy strategies, Quebec’s includes a range of efficiency programs and targets, such as reducing fuel consumption by government departments and agencies by 20% by 2010 and strengthening Quebec’s building code, all coordinated by the Agence de l’efficacité énergétique. The province’s energy strategy also includes a number of supporting documents.

In addition to its 2008 climate change action plan, which outlines emission reduction targets and alludes to an impending provincial cap-and-trade system, the province has also published Developing the Value of Forest Biomass: An Action Plan, focused on encouraging the use of wood-based fuel as a substitute for fossil fuels. A Development Strategy for Quebec’s Environmental and Green Technology Industry, meanwhile, outlines $282 in funding in four key areas: business development ($37.0 million), green technology development ($237.5 million), local markets ($0.6 million) and internationalization ($6.3 million). Finally, like many other provincial energy strategies, Quebec’s is complemented by an update document auditing the strategy’s progress to date.


Objectives (IX)

Quebec’s Using Energy to Build the Quebec of Tomorrow includes five objectives that guide the province’s actions on energy. These objectives, in turn, correspond to common themes found throughout Canada’s other provincial and territorial energy strategies.

  • Québec must strengthen its energy supply security
  • [Quebec] must make better use of energy as a lever for economic development. Priority is given to hydro-electricity, wind energy potential, hydrocarbon reserves and the diversification of our natural gas supplies.
  • Local and regional communities and First Nations must be given more say
  • We must use energy more efficiently
  • Québec must become a leader in the sustainable development field
  • Electricity rates must be set at a level that promotes our interests and ensures proper management of resources, thus improving price signals while protecting consumers and Québec’s industrial structure

Major Energy Players


Timeline

2009
  • Bring the Rupert diversion on stream at the end of 2009
2010
  • Reduce unit energy consumption in government buildings by 10% to 14% (14% for colleges, universities and the health and social services sector, and at 12% for other government departments and bodies, 10% for school boards)
  • Reduce fuel consumption by government departments and agencies by 20%
  • Biomass processing technology could be viable
  • [Reduce the] fuel consumption of government departments and public organizations by 20%
  • Adopt the necessary mechanisms to require manufacturers of light-duty vehicles sold in Québec to meet a GHG emissions standard
2011
  • Eastmain-1-A power-house in fall
2012
  • Achieve an average of 5% of ethanol in all gasoline sold
  • Cellulosic biomass plants in full operation
  • Reduce emissions to 6% below 1990 levels
  • Sarcelle powerhouse to come online
  • Increasing [public transit] traffic by 8%
2014
  • Romaine-2 scheduled for commissioning
2015
  • New electricity projects totaling 4,500 MW
  • Reducing petroleum product consumption by 2 million TOE
  • Gaz Métro and Gazifère [must] increase their energy savings target from 96.9 to 350 million cubic metres [from 90,000 TOE to 310,000 TOE]
  • [Hydro-Quebec will] achieve 11 TWh in energy savings
  • 4,000 MW of wind-generated electricity
2020
  • Construction [on the Romaine hydroelectric project] will take place from 2009 to 2020
2035
  • 3,500 MW of renewable energy (part of which would come from wind power and emerging sources) added to the capacity already called for in the energy strategy