The imminent announcement of the largest private investment in Quebec worries several hundred residents of the South Shore of Montreal, but its promoter is an “exemplary corporate citizen,” retorts Pierre Fitzgibbon. The Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy says he is reassured after visiting Northvolt’s Swedish facilities.
Located in northern Sweden, Skelleftea was on the itinerary of his Scandinavian tour – where the theme of the energy issue was prominent – which took place last week. It is near this municipality of some 74,000 people that Northvolt is erecting a complex similar to the one to be announced in Quebec.
“If everything goes as planned, we will have an exemplary corporate citizen,” explains Mr. Fitzgibbon in an interview, without going so far as to formalize Northvolt’s Quebec project. I went to see what was happening on site. There has been social acceptability there and the company is aware that issues like noise are important to nearby homes. »
La Presse and other media reported that the Swedish company was preparing to announce an investment of around 7 billion in Montérégie to build a battery cell factory – the last step before assembling the lithium-ion battery that found in electric vehicles. This is the missing link in the ecosystem that the Legault government wishes to put in place. Quebec and Ottawa will participate in the financial arrangement.
This complex will be built on the land of the former Canadian Industries Limited (CIL) explosives factory, which straddles McMasterville and Saint-Basile-le-Grand. We are talking about a complex with an area of 100 hectares, or more than 75 football fields. Some 4,000 jobs are expected to be created over time.
Neighboring residents are already opposed to the arrival of a complex of this size. An online petition to this effect had approximately 595 signatories as of this writing on Wednesday. It must be sent to McMasterville council on September 25.
“No one certifies that noise, odors and transport will not be harmful to citizens,” argue the residents behind this approach.
Mr. Fitzgibbon says he understands these concerns, but expects to see Northvolt take the necessary steps to reassure local communities if its intentions are confirmed.
Quoted by the regional weekly L’Œil on September 13, the mayor of McMasterville, Martin Dulac, was disappointed with the opposition movement, since the arrival of Northvolt has not yet been confirmed. If this is the case, the company will have to meet residents to answer their questions, he said.
Mr. Fitzgibbon met with no less than 12 companies and 8 government agencies during his visit to Sweden, Finland and Norway. While a bill is expected in the fall on the supervision and development of clean energy in Quebec, the minister says that his visit to Europe aimed to get an idea of ”best practices” in this area in this region of the world. The legislative piece must, among other things, modify the Hydro-Québec Act and the Energy Régie Act.
One of his observations: the role played by the private sector in energy production, especially in the wind sector, and its “separation” from everything surrounding energy transmission. In Quebec, private companies have just submitted bids to a call for tenders launched by Hydro-Québec, responsible for the electricity network.
“The transmission aspect is essential for safety and reliability that you can’t get from the private one that goes into that,” Fitzgibbon said. I think the Scandinavians have a good handle on this. The [transmission] agencies are primarily state-owned, but separate from those that produce electricity. »
Consultations have taken place in recent months regarding the province’s energy future. They ended on August 1st.
Like Quebec companies doing business in India, Mr. Fitzgibbon is also concerned about the potential repercussions of the diplomatic dispute between Ottawa and New Delhi. This erupted after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s shocking revelations about alleged links between the Indian government and the assassination of a Sikh leader in British Columbia. “Yes, I’m a little concerned,” says the Quebec minister, believing that Mr. Trudeau had done the “right thing.” India is Quebec’s 11th largest partner. Last year, trade reached 3.3 billion. “I asked Investissement Québec to take stock of the potential impacts for Quebec companies if there were retaliations imposed by India. It is premature, but we must monitor the situation closely. It’s a country of 1.4 billion people with booming economic growth, so I’m looking at that. »
