Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon argued that Quebec’s failure to convince Volkswagen to build its first battery factory on its territory should speed up construction of the transmission line. The Parti Québécois believes the Legault government has “eaten the whole thing.”
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Economy, Innovation and Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon has known for over a year that Volkswagen would choose Ontario to build its battery plant.
“The talks have been short,” he said, stressing the lip service that has “failed”.
“Let’s not forget Ontario Gray Batteries.” Energy is generated there from natural gas. “Yes, it’s a disappointment,” admitted the minister. “I want to own a Volkswagen […] Me, I’m not a magician, I’m just an energy minister.
Transmission lines
However, Quebec could not meet the German automaker’s needs and provide it with 800 to 900 MW of power.
Not because there isn’t enough electricity, but because Montreal doesn’t have a transmission line that can transport that much power.
“There’s electricity, somewhere in Labrador, somewhere in James Bay. The problem is getting it to Montreal. It’s not so much that it has other sources to carry. And, we need to start upstream to say where we’re going to ship surplus, powerful transmission lines so we can be ready to have projects.
Volkswagen definitely wanted to settle on a big hub and this is from 2027.
“We told them we could connect them by 2029-2030,” said Minister Fitzgibbon. “Montreal, you have to understand, we are far from Churchill [Falls]We are not far from James Bay.
The project could have been installed in September-Ills, but it required 6,000 workers.
He lacked the “courage” to promise Vox this labor.
Other wars
Pierre Fitzgibbon assured that “we” are ready to welcome other projects.
“You have to be patient,” he said. “Eventually we’re going to organize ourselves to have other projects.”
He also argued that Quebec must quickly increase its production of renewable energy sources.
“It takes more renewable energy […] Are you dams? Are you consuming less? Are you wind energy, bioenergy?”
Sharp criticism
PQ member, Joel Arceneau, however, was more critical of Minister Fitzgibbon’s “failure” to bring Volkswagen to Quebec.
“The Premier likes to compare himself to Ontario. We only ate one.
Liberal Jennifer McCarron insists Minister Fitzgibbon will be this government’s “deal maker”.
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