Some thoughts - from this critic of industrial wind in Ontario ....
Stop molly-coddling the Americans and fight for your exports to be considered every bit as green as solar, wind, etc.
Quebec should be arguing they have a green power system - reservoirs are spared when it is windy, and utilized when it is not - the American protectionist's claims that hydro projects over 100MW capacity are less 'green' are simply ridiculous.
Increased export contracts for 'green' energy still won't fully pay for these wealth transfer projects, but they aren't really electricity supply projects anyway ...
Hydro-Québec is swimming in electricity surpluses. Just how big these surpluses are and how long this situation will last is a heated debate. The state-owned utility foresees surpluses until 2020, but some analysts expect they will last until 2027.The entire article can be read at The Globe and Mail:
Hydro-Québec is already on the hook to buy highly priced electricity that it doesn’t need and selling it at a loss on export markets. The utility pegs the cost of the surpluses at $1.5-billion over the next seven years, an expense that will be passed on to Quebeckers through their electricity bills.
It is for this exact reason that the PQ government cancelled six small dam projects this winter – and that electricity is cheaper than the wind-produced electricity whose cost has fluctuated between 10 and 12.5 cents per kilowatt-hour before hookup costs. Hence the surprise with Ms. Marois’ decision to go ahead with not only 700 MW of wind power, but with an extra 100 MW on top.
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