La chaleur hybride au Québec

The report analyzes a partnership between Hydro-Québec and Énergir to transition buildings to bi-energy heating (electricity and natural gas). While the agreement reduces natural gas consumption by over 70% and is more cost-effective for Hydro-Québec than full electrification, the authors warn of potential 'carbon lock-in' due to 15-year contracts and the uncertain availability of renewable natural gas to cover remaining fossil fuel use by 2050.

• Hydro-Québec and Énergir established a bi-energy agreement for 2022-2045 to convert natural gas heating systems into hybrid systems that use electricity normally and natural gas during extreme cold to reduce pressure on the electrical grid.
• The bi-energy transition is projected to reduce natural gas consumption for participating residential, commercial, and institutional clients by more than 70%.
• Bi-energy is significantly cheaper for Hydro-Québec than full electrification; the utility estimates a saving of 1.682 billion dollars, as full electrification would require 2,070 MW of additional capacity by 2030 at a cost of 2.7 billion dollars.
• To mitigate revenue losses from customers switching to bi-energy, Énergir may receive a 'GHG contribution' (compensation financière) of up to 403 million dollars by 2030, covering approximately 80% of its lost revenue.
• The agreement may cause 'carbon lock-in' because new connections and system replacements through 2030 involve 15-year contracts, fixing natural gas consumption levels until 2045. This contradicts IEA recommendations to ban new fossil fuel boilers by 2025 for net-zero goals.
• Énergir intends to use renewable natural gas (GNR) to decarbonize the remaining 30% of gas demand by 2050, but current availability is very low; GNR represented only 0.6% of the gas distributed by Énergir in 2022.

APA

Canadian Climate Institute (2023). La chaleur hybride au Québec. https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/la-chaleur-hybride-au-quebec/

Chicago

Canadian Climate Institute. La chaleur hybride au Québec. 2023. https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/la-chaleur-hybride-au-quebec/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Climate Institute |title=La chaleur hybride au Québec |date=14 April 2023 |url=https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/la-chaleur-hybride-au-quebec/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianclimateinstitute2023chaleur, author = {{Canadian Climate Institute}}, title = {{La chaleur hybride au Québec}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://institutclimatique.ca/publications/la-chaleur-hybride-au-quebec/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }