Quebec’s Cheap Power Lures Europe’s Green Hydrogen Buyers

Hydro-Quebec CEO says demand booming in low-carbon era
Companies ‘ready to pay a fortune’ to lower carbon footprint

The Hydro-Quebec Beauharnois hydroelectric generating station on the Saint Lawrence River in Beauharnois, Quebec.Photographer: Graham Hughes/Bloomberg

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By Sandrine Rastello

October 26, 2021 at 1:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The abundance of cheap hydro-electric power that made Quebec a haven for cryptocurrency miners and data centers is now attracting other potential power-thirsty buyers: European green hydrogen producers.

“We have people right now in Europe who want to decarbonize: They are very interested in coming to Quebec to produce green hydrogen from green electricity, to put that on a boat, and go back,” Sophie Brochu, the chief executive officer of power utility Hydro-Quebec, said in an interview. “They are ready to pay a fortune to decarbonize.”