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Eastmain 1-A and Rupert River Diversion Hydropower Project
The Selected Project
Project background
The James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement (JBNQA), signed in 1975,
provided for the construction of a certain number of hydroelectric projects,
notably the Nottaway-Broadback-Rupert (NBR) project. This large-scale
undertaking, which included the construction of up to six powerhouses on the
Rupert River, seven powerhouses on the Broadback River, as well as the
creation of large reservoirs, would have had undeniable social and
biophysical impacts on the present-day communities of Mistissini, Waswanipi
and Waskaganish. With the signing of the Agreement respecting the
establishment of a new relationship between the Government of Québec and the
Grand Council of the Crees of Québec in February 2002, this project would be
permanently abandoned in favour of the implementation of the Eastmain-1-A
and Rupert River diversion project. The project involves the
partial diversion of the Rupert River flow to the La Grande Rivière
watershed, thus increasing the volume of water turbined in the two existing
powerhouses, while adding two new powerhouses, the Eastmain-1-A and the La
Sarcelle, to the proponent’s facilities. The project also includes the
construction of control structures which will help in maintaining an
ecological instream flow in the reduced flow reach of the Rupert River. Two
diversion bays1 will be created by the diversion of waters to the Eastmain-1
reservoir, which will cause the flooding of land areas.
Project options As part of its
project, the proponent submitted, for analysis, a certain number of
diversion variants, which were discussed with the Crees and presented in the
impact study. In its analysis of the proposed options, the ministère du
Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs (MDDEP) retained a
range of criteria such as flooded land area, the protection of Category II
lands as defined in the JBNQA, and the shortening of lengths of rivers with
reduced flow capacity. The selected option was the Cramoisy variant, named
after a lake located near the passage of the diverted waters. This variant
protects the Category II lands of Mistissini, limits the amount of land area
submerged by diversion and shortens the length of the river with reduced
flow.
Selected project
The project authorized by the MDDEP as part of the northern social and
environmental impacts review procedure includes the following components:
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construction and operation of the Eastmain-1-A powerhouse,
with a total installed capacity of 768 MW, at the Eastmain-1 Reservoir
watershed;
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construction and operation of the Sarcelle powerhouse, with
a total installed capacity of 125 MW, at the Opinaca Reservoir watershed;
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construction of a 474 m long by 29 m high rockfill dam, with
9 m wide crest, at kilometric point (KP) 314 of Rupert River;
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diversion of a portion of the waters of Rupert River toward
the Eastmain-1 Reservoir, through the forebay (south) and tailbay (north) of
the Rupert River, which are linked by a 2.9 km long tunnel under De la
Sillimanite Lake. Diverted waters from Rupert River will then follow the
course of the Eastmain-1 Reservoir waters up to the mouth of La Grande
Rivière River, via Eastmain River, the Opinaca Reservoir, Boyd Lake, Sakami
Lake, Sakami River and the Robert-Bourassa Reservoir;
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diverted waters will be turbined in the new powerhouses
(Eastmain-1-A and De la Sarcelle) as well as in the existing powerhouses
(Robert-Bourassa and La Grande-1), which will help to maximize hydropower
generation in both new and existing powerhouses;
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construction of a flow-control structure (spillway) at KP
314 of Rupert River, to release ecological instream flows in Rupert River.
These flows, modulated according to the seasons, will ensure the protection
of fish species life cycles;
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construction of control structures on Lemare River, Nemiscau
River, Arques Creek and Kayechischekaw Creek, to restore the natural flows
of these watercourses, which are impacted by a reach and to ensure
biological integrity;
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construction of eight hydraulic structures on Rupert River
to maintain the river's uses downstream of the control structure and
preserve 91% of aquatic environment, as well as spawning grounds, feeding
habitats and aquatic grass beds;
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construction of 2 315 kV transmission lines enabling
connection of the, Eastmain-1-A and Sarcelle powerhouses to the Québec grid;
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eight work camps to house workers, including three existing
work camps and five temporary ones;
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construction of roughly 255 km of roads, and upgrading of
approximately 105 km of existing roads;
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construction of a new drinking water plant for the
Waskaganish community.
Project justification
With regards to the project's justification, the MDDEP has drawn the
following conclusions:
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The proponent may profit from the existing infrastructures
to produce more energy at an advantageous cost;
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The project is feasible on from an economic standpoint in
view of the production cost, execution costs and reasonable expectations of
profit on the internal and external markets;
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The project may significantly contribute to achieving the
desired manoeuvring margin of 15 TWh, which will help the proponent respond
to the internal demand variations and at the same time take advantage of
export markets;
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In view of lowering of provisions of additional supply
required by 2014, the improvement of the proponent’s manoeuvring margin and
export are the essential reason behind the project. COMEX recognizes the
legitimacy of these reasons as part of the corporate strategy and conform to
Québec’s energy strategy;
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The project will contribute to the increase of dividends
that the proponent will pay to the Government of Québec, to the profit of
the whole Québec society;
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As of today, there is no alternative solution and no
combination of alternative solutions that could guarantee the same
operational and economic advantages as this project;
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Wind energy production represents an interesting addition to
this project and will benefit from its implementation, but it cannot replace
it.
1 The difference between a diversion bay
and a reservoir consists in a reduced drawdown, a poor water storage
capacity and, generally, better quality habitats, from a biological point of
view.
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