Hydro-Québec - Building and Rehabilitating a Hydroelectric Development

Power station rehabilitation: The right choice at times.



Other construction projects in Québec

The decision to build a power station is directly linked to the anticipated growth in demand for electricity. A utility must also take into account the fact that it takes about 10 years to complete a hydroelectric development.

Three key conditions for building or rehabilitating a plant

Before proceeding with the construction of a hydropower station, Hydro-Québec is committed to meeting three key conditions:

The project must be profitable under current market conditions.

It must be environmentally acceptable and in keeping with the principles of sustainable development.

It must be well received by local communities.

Stages of construction

The environment: Top priority

The construction of a hydroelectric development consists of the following main stages:

Site selection
In-depth environmental impact assessment
Building of roads and worker accommodations, since hydroelectric developments are often built in remote locations
Construction of retaining works (dam, dikes and spillway) to control water flow at specific points
Construction of the generating station: powerhouse, headrace and tailrace
Construction of transmission lines.

See the main stages in the construction of the Eastmain-1 hydroelectric development.

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The environment: Top priority .

Reservoirs at the La Grande Complex facilitate the wintertime migration of caribou. Thanks to these huge bodies of water covered with ice, herds avoid long detours in the snow.

From the very start of a hydroelectric project, Hydro-Québec undertakes impact studies to assess environmental outcomes and mitigate potential effects. These initiatives are followed up with environmental monitoring activities during and after construction, combined with site-enhancement measures. Thanks to the valuable knowledge it has gained over the past 30 years—for example, concerning northern ecosystems—the company is able to identify precisely how new development projects will impact the environment.

Rehabilitating Power Stations .

Rehabilitating power stations:
Another way to meet future needs

Hydroelectric facilities are generally designed to last 50 to 60 years. Regular maintenance can prolong the service life of a dam or power plant. But after a while, maintenance is not enough: the facility needs to be restored. Sometimes, it’s more cost-effective to modernize a plant than to build a new one, as is the case with Beauharnois hydroelectric generating station.

In other cases, it is preferable to start from scratch, as with the new facility being built next to Grand-Mère generating station.