Wind power: Quebec announces a major partnership with the Essipit Innu First Nation

Electricity pylons, power lines and wind turbines. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg)

Quebec’s premier, accompanied by several ministers, announced a major wind energy production partnership with the Essipit Innu First Nation at the Fjord-du-Saguenay RCM on Wednesday.

François Legault and Martin Dufour, Chief of the Essipit Innu, confirmed the signing of a wind power development agreement in the Nutinamu-Chauvin area of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, which will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 megawatts (MW) by 2035.

According to the premier’s office, this partnership will create many jobs, with investments of up to $3 billion.

The government and Hydro-Québec intend to develop more than 10,000 MW of wind power capacity by 2035.

Hydro-Québec President and CEO Michael Sabia and several elected officials accompanied Legault to Saint-Honoré to announce the partnership with the Essipit Innu, a community of several hundred people.

Among them were Christine Fréchette, Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, Ian Lafrenière, Minister responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit, Andrée Laforest, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Minister responsible for the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, and Kateri Champagne Jourdain, Minister of Employment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French Jan. 29, 2025.