Builders of small hydro plants in Quebec, Canada have expressed their satisfaction over a recent ruling by the Quebec Energy Board (QEB) which
recommends that IPPs get a share of new power production in the province. QEB ruled in December 1999 that Canadian utility Hydro-Quebec must
buy 150MW of hydroelectricity from private producers.
Gilles Lefrancois, president of the Quebec Association for Renewable Energy Production, said that Hydro-Quebec allowed IPPs to construct hydro plants between 1991 and 1993, when 55 small plants with a total capacity of 255MW were built. But since 1993 Hydro-Quebec has not considered any further requests for increasing hydro capacity. The provincial government of Quebec has to make the final decision on the QEB ruling.
Hydro-Quebec has already said that it will not oppose the QEB recommendation — it ruled that the utility should pay the private producers 4.5 cents per kWh, a price equal to or less than what the utility says it would cost to develop large power sites.
