Hydropower in the Northeast
How Hydro-Québec is part of the Northeast’s clean energy future
Hydro-Québec has been a reliable partner to the Northeastern states for decades, helping support their economies and their transitions toward a greener energy future.”
A rich history
“Hydro-Québec has been a reliable partner to the Northeastern states for decades, helping support their economies and their transitions toward a greener energy future.” Peter Rose, Senior Director of Stakeholder Relations at Hydro-Québec Energy Services U.S.
Hydropower from Québec has been flowing into the Northeastern United States for more than a century, thanks to connections between neighboring power grids. The first intertie was built in 1914 between the municipality of Les Cèdres, located north of the Saint Lawrence River in Québec, Canada, and the Town of Massena in St. Lawrence County, New York. Several decades later, in 1978, a 1,200-MW, 765-kV line was completed between Châteauguay, a suburb of Montréal, and the upstate New York town of Marcy (near Utica). These interconnections paved the way for many long-term agreements between Hydro-Québec and its American neighbors.
Links were built to New England in the 1980s. A 15-mile transmission line was deployed to deliver power over the border to Vermont and northern New Hampshire, and an ambitious 680-mile project linked Ayer, Massachusetts, to Hydro-Québec’s largest hydroelectric generating station, the Robert-Bourassa facility, in Québec’s James Bay region.
Each new line resulted in more long-term agreements with Northeastern states. In 2010, Hydro-Québec renewed our commitment to provide Vermont with 225 megawatts of annual energy deliveries. This contract extends to 2038, equivalent to one-quarter of the state’s electricity demand.
A promising future
“You can see a future where Québec’s hydroelectric reservoirs with their huge storage capacity, become a form of battery that provides support when there is not enough wind, or when the sun isn’t shining,” said Serge Abergel, Chief Operating Officer of Hydro-Québec Energy Services U.S.
Today, operators of solar and wind farms in the U.S. have to stop generating power when their customers don’t need it because the energy can’t be stored for long periods of time. This contrasts with the energy produced by water, which can be stored in reservoirs for a duration without limit.
Through an interconnected grid, excess renewable production in the U.S. could be exported to Québec and effectively stored in Hydro-Québec’s extensive reservoir system, to be redeployed later to serve the needs of neighboring markets when there is no wind or sun. Otherwise, expensive and high-emitting fossil fuel generation would need to be dispatched.
Climate change presents a massive, daunting challenge for humanity: satisfying our increasing need for power, while moving away from fossil fuels that now provide most of our energy. Though many people are not aware of it, hydropower is already an indispensable part of our day-to-day lives. Québec hydropower will keep playing a critical role in the Northeast clean energy transition, as the build-out of renewable resources increases on both sides of the borders.
How does hydropower work? And why is it such an important resource in our renewable energy future?
Green, cost-effective and available whenever it's needed, hydropower is a critical resource in our energy future.
