Hydro-Québec is committed to developing yet another clean energy source – solar – with the construction of two PV arrays in Quebec’s Montérégie region. In the context of this undertaking, Activa Environnement was requested by the project contractor, Borea Construction, to carry out a wildlife study at one of the two sites being targeted by Hydro-Québec to host a PV project, namely the former thermal station of La Citière. More precisely, Activa Environnement was contracted to validate the presence or absence of bats and swallows in an abandoned building on site that is slated for demolition to make room for the PV project.

Hydro-Québec’s two solar projects represent a combined investment of $39.5M. Both are scheduled to be commissioned in the fall of 2020. Located on land owned by Hydro-Québec, these projects will have a total installed capacity of 10 megawatts (MW), which is enough to power approximately 1,000 homes.

Borea Construction, a subsidiary of Pomerleau, will be responsible for installing the solar projects. The latter will comprise a total of 36,000 panels, 4,000 of which will be manufactured by Stace, a company based in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.

Solar project planned for the former La Citière thermal power plant: a few statistics

Surface area: 150,000 m2, or the equivalent of 28 football fields

Installed capacity: 8 MW

Number of solar panels: 26,000

Annual production:  13 GWh

About Borea Construction

Borea Construction is a Canadian leader in renewable energy construction projects. To date, the company has completed more than 40 projects representing a total of 2,044 wind turbines and over 4,000 MW of installed capacity.