Hydro-Québec Distribution announced today that it has issued a call for tenders for the purchase of a block of wind power produced by facilities with an installed capacity of 450 MW, composed of 300 MW for the Bas St-Laurent and Gaspésie─Îles-de-la-Madeleine regions and 150 MW for projects across Québec.

Documentation

A link to Hydro-Québec's press release can be found here (in French) and here (in English).

The call for tenders document, the registration form for the pre-bid conference, the registration form for call for tenders and the bid form are available on Hydro-Québec Distribution's Web site in English and French.

This call for tenders follows the previous publications by the Government of Québec of draft and final regulations pertaining to such wind power procurement. You can read our previous posts on this matter here and here.

Highlights

Hydro-Québec specified that the projects will be linked to Hydro-Québec's grid within the following timeframes:

  • 100 MW no later than December 1, 2016;
  • 350 MW no later than December 1, 2017.

As previously announced, the energy price, to which must be added the cost of transmission and the cost of balancing service and firming capacity, must not exceed 9.0 cents/kWh in 2014 dollars. The contracts will be approved by the Régie de l'énergie.

It should also be noted that the projects will have to include regional and Québec content:

  • a minimum of 60% of total project costs must be spent in Québec, including costs for the installation of wind turbines;
  • a minimum of 35% of wind turbine costs must be allocated to the regional county municipality of La Matanie and the administrative region of Gaspésie─Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

Timing

Here are some important dates from the schedule shown in the call for tenders document:

  • pre-bid conference dates for potential bidders:
  • session in Montréal (in French): February 11, 2014 at 9h00;
  • session in Montreal (in English): February 11, 2014 at 14h00;
  • session in Québec city (in French): February 13, 2014 at 9h00.
  • bid submission deadline: September 3, 2014 at 4 p.m (Montreal time);
  • opening of bids: September 4, 2014.

Next steps

We will review the provisions of the bid document and ancillary documentation over the coming weeks and will report back with a detailed analysis.

In the meantime, do not hesitate to contact our energy experts to assist you and your business in connection with this important development in the wind energy industry, including to discuss and identify the opportunities which may arise in connection with the proposed wind power procurement.

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