Hydro-Quebec, the electricity utility of Quebec in Canada, has added solar power plant capacity to its portfolio in the form of 2 solar projects with 9.5 MW combined capacity. These also happen to be Quebec's initial solar projects, according to the utility.
Gabrielle-Bodis Solar Power Station with 8 MW installed capacity is located on site of the former thermal power station of La Citiere, La Prairie. Its 26,000 solar panels, out of which 4,200 were assembled in Quebec are expected to generate 13 GWh annually. This project is named after Gabrielle Bodis who was the very 1st female engineer to graduate from Polytechnique Montreal and worked with the utility for 35 years.
With 1.5 MW capacity, Centrale Robert-A.-Boyd Solar Plant at the utility's research institute in Varennes have 4,600 solar panels designed to produce 2.6 GWh annually. This one is named after former President and CEO of Hydro-Quebec, Robert A. Boyd.
Altogether the projects are expected to produce close to 16 GWh of solar power annually, equivalent to the consumption of 1,000 residential customers. With these projects online, Hydro-Quebec said it will be able to assess and determined whether solar energy is well suited to Quebec's climate, to its power generation fleet and to its transmission network.
Hydro-Quebec is a 19.9% stakeholder in Canadian renewable power producer Innergex Renewable Energy (see Hydropower Firm Picks Up 19.9% Stake In Canadian RE Firm).