Wind Power in Quebec

Study. October 2026. Author. Jean-François Hotte, technology consultant.

This study analyzes the place of wind power in Hydro-Québec's supply strategy to 2035, based on the Crown corporation's public documents, peer-reviewed scientific literature and the most recent international data. Each factual data point refers to a numbered reference at the end of the document. The author's calculations are identified as such, and their assumptions are set out in the text.

Version française. L'éolien au Québec.

Summary

Hydro-Québec's Action Plan 2035 calls for the addition of 10,000 megawatts of wind capacity by 2035 [1]. This study examines that direction from four angles. The performance of the wind resource in a northern climate, its actual contribution to the winter peak, its full cost to Hydro-Québec and its customers, and the alternatives available within the existing grid.

The analysis draws on Hydro-Québec's public documents, on three reference works, by Gordon Hughes (2020), Lion Hirth (2013) and the Institut de recherche en économie contemporaine (IRÉC, 2024), a Quebec economic research institute, and on recent international data from the International Energy Agency, BloombergNEF and Ember. Each factual data point refers to a numbered reference. The author's calculations are identified as such.

15% of wind capacity is guaranteed at the January peak.

+28% increase in wind call-for-tender prices between 2021 and 2023.

22.2 billion dollars, projected cumulative cost of private wind purchases in 2035.

10 times more concrete and steel per terawatt-hour than nuclear.

Wind farms under contract in Quebec produce on average 35% of their rated capacity over the year, and Hydro-Québec counts on only 15% of that capacity at the January peak. Of 10,000 megawatts installed, the grid can therefore count on 1,500 to 1,700 megawatts at the moment when demand is highest [1].

Prices in wind calls for tenders rose by 28% between 2021 and 2023, and Hydro-Québec puts the cost of its new supply at 11 cents per kilowatt-hour on average [2][3]. According to IRÉC, purchases of private wind power cost Hydro-Québec 11.2 billion dollars from 2006 to 2023, and the bill will reach 22.2 billion in 2035 [4].

A wind turbine lasts 20 to 25 years, a dam more than 100 years and a modern nuclear power plant 60 to 80 years. Per terawatt-hour produced, wind power requires about ten times more concrete and steel than nuclear power [5].

The existing grid offers options for firm capacity at the peak totalling more than 10,000 megawatts, namely demand management, the upgrading of generating stations and the private generating stations of Saguenay, six to seven times what 10,000 megawatts of wind turbines guarantee.