Felling of 75,000 trees. Replacement of more than 28,000 wooden posts. Installation of 500 composite posts at specific strategic locations. Minor spill of 12 kilometers of pipeline. Hydro-Québec outlined its strategy Tuesday morning to reduce the number of outages by 1% next year and the rate of vegetation-related outages by 30% by 2028.
Posted at 1:47 p.m.
When presenting its 2035 Action Plan in November, Hydro-Québec CEO Michael Sabia announced that improving service quality would be his organization's top priority. “Unfortunately, the extreme weather phenomena that Quebec has experienced in recent years, such as storms, ice episodes and wildfires last summer, have resulted in more frequent and longer power outages,” admits Claudine Bouchard, executive vice president and head of infrastructure operations at Hydro- Quebec. Ms. Bouchard stressed that 2023 is “among the 15 worst years for power outages” in the province.
In December, the Sutton in Estrie region was particularly affected by breakdowns. The Wakefield region in Outaouais also suffered several power outages in 2023, Ms Bouchard said.
Better control of vegetation
To turn the tide, Hydro-Québec is seeking a “combination of measures.” In 2024 alone, investments amounting to 130 million are planned for pruning and felling trees. Because 40% of breakdowns are due to vegetation, says Ms. Bouchard. By intensifying its vegetation control work, Hydro-Québec plans to reduce the failure rate per 100 km by 30% by 2028.
Recently, a group of tree architecture researchers in La Presse questioned the techniques Hydro-Québec uses to control vegetation around its network.
When asked about this topic, Ms. Bouchard mentioned the collaboration with the UQAM chair on architectural trees. And that the studies carried out by this chair show that Hydro-Québec “is among the best practices in terms of pruning”.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Claudine Bouchard, executive vice president and head of infrastructure operations at Hydro-Québec
Étienne Langdeau, director of vegetation activities and external contracts at Hydro-Québec, recognizes that “the best cut is the one that is not made.” However, he assures that the pruning “does not compromise the integrity of the tree” and “does not make it more fragile.” “If we look at the ice in Montreal, both in the large parks and the street trees and the trees where we intervened, there was an equal proportion of branches that were broken. We cannot say that the tree that was pruned by Hydro-Québec was more vulnerable,” he said.
New tools
In the coming months, Hydro-Québec plans to inspect more than 17,000 km of power lines, as well as 200,000 poles and 10,000 structures and devices such as transformers.
Hydro-Québec plans to install 500 more resilient composite pylons in certain strategic sectors of the territory. A composite post has a lifespan of 100 years, compared to 60 years for a wooden post.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Hydro-Québec plans to install 500 more resilient composite pylons in certain strategic sectors of the territory.
The lines are also buried using the “light burial” method. However, for 2024 we are only talking about 7 km. Hydro-Québec is also testing “sheathed” and therefore more shock-resistant lines on 12.5 km of the network.
Asked about the low mileage of these two initiatives, Ms. Bouchard explains that Hydro-Québec first wants to “see the results.” In particular, the absorbency of the covered wire “before its further deployment”. Ms Bouchard also explains that sheathed cables are significantly “heavier” than conventional cables and the surrounding installations must be prepared accordingly. Regarding the laying of cables, Maryse Dalpé, senior director of operations, maintenance and distribution network, affirms that “we will introduce many more kilometers in the coming years”. “Yes, it doesn’t seem like much, but we are pursuing a strategy to accelerate the deployment of this technology,” adds Ms. Bouchard.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
“Covered” lines, which are therefore more shock-resistant, are also being tested by Hydro-Québec on 12.5 km of the network.
Hydro-Québec also plans to test mobile vehicle charging stations so that electric cars can be charged in the event of a breakdown. And in certain more “vulnerable” regions, backup batteries are used to keep refrigerators, water pumps and the internet running during a power outage.
Finally, Hydro-Québec wants to improve its communication with its customers in the event of an outage. The Info-Banne website is being modernized to better explain the progress of the work to customers in the event of a breakdown. “We want to set deadlines. In the event of a major event. To show our customers where we are and when we plan a restoration,” explains Ms. Dalpé.