Wind EnergyHydro-Québec reacts to the letter by Frédéric Côté, Director of the Wind Energy TechnoCentre, entitled “Performantes par temps froid”

Hydro-Québec wishes to provide important clarifications to some of the information in the open letter by Frédéric Côté, director of the Wind Energy TechnoCentre, which was published in Le Soleil on January 9.

It is false to state that the low contribution of wind farms during the peak demand on January 2 and 3 was due to the unavailability of the power system. On the contrary, Hydro-Québec’s system performed very well during the cold snap and could easily have carried much more wind power.

Wind power is complementary to hydroelectricity, which is constant and available to meet needs for energy and power at any time. Because of its intermittent nature, wind power is not always available to Hydro-Québec right when the company needs it to meet its customers’ significant power demand during peak periods.

During the peak periods at the beginning of January, wind power contributed some 300 MW out of an installed capacity of more than 2,000 MW. Some wind farms were closed due to the extreme cold or because the wind just wasn’t blowing.

For information:

Louis-Olivier Batty
Hydro-Québec
514 289-4214
batty.louis-olivier@hydro.qc.ca