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Hydro-Québec to construct 90-MW electrolyzer to supply waste-to-biofuels plant

| By Mary Bailey

Hydro-Québec  has announced the construction of an electrolyzer facility with a capacity of about 90 MW, making it one of the most powerful electrolyzers in the world to produce green hydrogen. The facility will supply green hydrogen and oxygen to the Recyclage Carbone Varennes (RCV) plant project, which will transform non-recyclable waste into biofuels, providing an alternative to landfill.

The water electrolysis plant, to be built in Varennes, near Montréal (Québec, Canada), will require an investment of about $200 million from Hydro-Québec, which will be the sole shareholder. The plant will generate some 11,100 metric tons of hydrogen and 88,000 metric tons of oxygen annually. The hydrogen produced will be used as the gasification agent at the RCV biofuel plant, which will be built in a neighboring lot estimated at a cost of over $680 million.

“Thanks to our fleet of over 60 hydroelectric generating stations with a total output of 36,700 MW, the power produced by Hydro-Québec is over 99% clean. This puts Québec in a prime position to take on a leading role in the production of green hydrogen,” said Hydro-Québec’s President and CEO, Sophie Brochu.

Hydro-Québec is also interested in other projects for developing the hydrogen sector in Québec and wants to hear from companies wishing to contribute to such projects.