2023-10-12 18:41:12
THE ROMAN-1 | François Legault and his superminister of Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, made history on Thursday by officially inaugurating the Romaine hydroelectric complex, “a model to follow for possible future projects”, according to the Prime Minister, which aims to build new dams.
“I am very proud to inaugurate the Romaine facilities, the largest hydroelectric complex since James Bay. […] It is truly the symbol of Quebec genius,” declared the Prime Minister, who considered it important to invite former Prime Minister Jean Charest to accompany him for the occasion.
The Romaine project was launched by Mr. Charest in 2009, but his successor at the head of the Quebec Liberal Party, Philippe Couillard, did not invite him to the inauguration of Romaine-3 in 2017. .
Six years later, Mr. Legault dedicated his first words to Mr. Charest. “It is not easy to launch major projects in Quebec, so I say it in front of everyone: bravo,” underlined Mr. Legault, congratulating him for having put forward this project, despite the criticism, at the time.
“It reminds us that what counts in politics is what is founding and what lasts over time, so that makes me very proud today,” commented Mr. Charest, admitting that he was “pleasantly surprised” to be invited by Mr. Legault.
“I think it’s a great day for Quebec and I’m proud to take part in it,” declared Minister Fitzgibbon.
Family photo in front of the Romaine-1 power station, on the occasion of the official inauguration of the Romaine hydroelectric complex, on October 12, 2023, in the presence, in particular, of François Legault, Pierre Fitzgibbon and Jean Charest. Marc-Andre Gagnon
Other projects to come
In fact, the Romaine hydroelectric complex has been fully functional for a year now, but certain development work outside its fourth and final power station has been carried out in recent months.
Its inauguration occurs in a context where the CAQ government plans to build other dams.
Prime Minister François Legault greeting workers upon his arrival at the Romaine-1 power plant, followed by Kateri Champagne Jourdain, Minister of Employment, Minister responsible for the Côte-Nord region and Member of Parliament for Duplessis. Marc-Andre Gagnon
The situation was also very different during the inauguration of the Romaine-3 power plant, in 2017. Philippe Couillard then drew a line under the major dam projects. “Unless there is an obvious need for electricity that we do not foresee, we will have to turn to other ways, notably energy efficiency,” he declared.
However, Hydro-Québec now estimates that it will need at least 100 additional TWh of clean electricity for Quebec to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and the Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy , Pierre Fitzgibbon, aims to increase the production capacity of the state company from 150 to 200 TWh, which would amount to doubling what is currently done.
While waiting to know which rivers will be harnessed for the next dam projects, the leader of the Innu community of Ekuanitshit, Jean-Charles Piétacho, took advantage of his speech to demand a review of the model of royalties paid to the First Nations, which should be in billions, rather than millions, he said.
$900 million more than expected
Located north of Havre-Saint-Pierre, in Minganie, the Romaine hydroelectric complex has a total installed capacity of 1,500 MW. Its estimated annual production is 8.0 TWh, which can power around 470,000 homes. Mr. Sabia emphasized that it is the equivalent of Quebec City.
Preliminary studies were launched in 2003, 20 years ago. Its construction began in 2009 and cost $7.4 billion to build, $900 million more than initially estimated.
The excess costs can be explained, among other things, by delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a “safety shift” undertaken following the death of four workers, including two on the Romaine-4 construction site, in 2016.
Hydro-Québec estimates that the Romaine complex project, as a whole, has generated economic spinoffs of more than $5.5 billion across the province, including $1.4 billion on the North Shore, and $430 million in contracts awarded to Innu businesses.
Overview of Romaine-4, the fourth and final power station of the Romaine hydroelectric complex. Courtesy image provided by Hydro-Québec
Nearly a thousand workers were mobilized full time to build the complex for 14 years.
The years 2012 to 2015 were the busiest, with three of the four plants being built at the same time. At the height of the work, in 2014, more than 1,600 workers were at work, according to Hydro-Québec.
About 40% of them came from the North Shore and about 10% were indigenous.
The state-owned company estimates that in total, more than 14,000 direct and indirect jobs were created throughout the construction process.
The Romaine hydroelectric complex
• Installed power: 1550 MW
– Romaine-1 : 270 MW
– Romaine-2 : 640 MW
– Romaine-3 : 395 MW
– Romaine-4 : 245 MW
• Planned average annual production: 8.0 TWh
• Construction costs: $7.4 billion
• Cost price: 6.4¢/kWh
• Construction: from 2009 to 2022
Project timeline
o Before 2003: summary studies
o 2003: preliminary studies
o 2004-2007: preliminary project
o 2008-2009: government authorizations
o 2009: launch of work by Prime Minister Jean Charest
o 2014 : 1re commissioning (Romaine-2)
o 2015: commissioning of Romaine-1
o 2017: commissioning of Romaine-3
o 2017: “Safety shift”: major OHS overhaul
o 2022: end of work and commissioning of Romaine-4
o 2023-2024: finalization of additional work
Source: Hydro-Québec
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