Hydro-Québec will begin major reconstruction work at the Saint-Polycarpe hydroelectric station in the coming days. The citizens of Soulanges know very well that the work that will be started soon is necessary. For several years, blackouts have been frequent in the municipalities of Saint-Polycarpe, Rivière-Beaudette and Saint-Télesphore.
The site, whose final bill is estimated at $ 28 million, was scheduled to commence in spring 2020. However, due to Covid-19, it was postponed. The work will take place over a two year period and will allow the Crown Corporation to bring stability to the electricity supply in the municipalities served by the Saint-Polycarpe station.
“We are going to rebuild everything, specifies Geneviève Lafortune, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec. We are talking about a lateral move. We will stay within the limits of the current site.”
Asked whether the future substation will resolve the situation of regular blackouts in this sector, Mrs. Lafortune was not forthcoming. Rather, she speaks of several actions that are combined.
“We know the situation very well, admits Mrs. Lafortune. However, it should be noted that we have taken a lot of actions to improve the situation. We are pruning and there will also be felling which will be done soon on vegetation near the wires. These improvements, combined with the upgrade of the Saint-Polycarpe substation could make a big difference.”
It is also possible to learn that the current capacity of the Saint-Polycarpe substation is 100 megawatts while the capacity of the future substation will be 132 megawatts, an increase of one third.
For the citizens
Hydro-Québec will send the citizens of Saint-Polycarpe documentation to inform them of the site implementation and of the obstacles to be expected to traffic. However, these could prove to be a small problem since traffic controllers will be on duty.
It was time according to mayor Bousez
On social networks, Patrick Bousez, mayor of Rivière-Beaudette and prefect of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges RCM has expressed his disappointment with Hydro-Québec’s service in Soulanges on several occasions. Moreover, Mr. Bousez has been calling for the upgrading of the Saint-Polycarpe substation for several years now.
“I have had discussions with Hydro-Québec on numerous occasions, said Mr. Bousez. The existing grid is barely sufficient for the task. The upgrade of the Saint-Polycarpe substation should have been done a long time ago. The demographic projections of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges RCM are precise. We can practically tell how many citizens there will be in the region in 2035. So, it’s hard to understand the fact that it has taken so long for the decision to build a new substation to be made. The equipment in place dates back more than 50 years. They are obsolete.”
