UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Government

Name of Ministry/Agency:	Hydro-Québec

Country:	Canada

Name of Focal Point:	Gilles Favreau

Initiative Title:	Sustainable Hydropower Development: The Bersimis Complex

Internet links:

Scope:	National: - Canada

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: End:

Lead Institution:	Hydro-Québec, a public utility whose sole shareholder is the government of Québec

Stakeholders/Partners:	- This project involves several agreements with the local communities in form of business partnerships concluded with the elected representatives of three Regional County Municipalities (RCM) and three native Innu communities (Betsiamites, Essipit and Mashteuiatsh); - The government of Québec is Hydro-Québec's most important stakeholder since half of the utility's profits are paid as dividends to the government and contribute to the annual provincial budget, thus financing part of the social benefits (health, education, welfare, etc.) of all Quebecers ; - A joint salmon restoration society has been created between representatives of the utility and the native community ; - Business agreements were reached with private small hydro operators ; - Last but not least, Quebec's Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, declared a big island on the Pipmuacan Reservoir as a conservation area for biodiversity in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Relevent issues:	- Renewable energy including hydro power

Objectives/Challenges:

Hydro-Québec aims at contributing to sustainable development. Within this context, the Bersimis Complex made a significant contribution to these three pillars of sustainable development in

a) Spurring economic growth
b) Protecting the health of ecosystems
c) Improving social justice by enhancing the equity between
i) present and future generations
ii) local, regional and national communities
iii) vulnerable social groups and the society
iv) indigenous nations

Lessons Learned:

Key to sustainable hydropower development is careful management of natural resources in good collaboration with all stakeholders. In this context, partnership agreements have turned out to be a success factor when they are based on basic principles of democracy ,such as negotiating with elected community representatives, relying on a transparent decision-making process guided by majority approval, offering choices, and establishing priorities.

Among others, powerful tools to craft partnerships are:

- Public hearings to increase mutual understanding and to establish priorities;
- Respect of individuals, local traditions, different value systems;
- Planning and implementing remedial works together with affected people;
- Continuous forum of exchange for a long-term relationship;
- A legal framework with mechanisms to prevent and resolve discords;
- Privileged exchanges among high-level decision-makers to favour their commitment;
- Measures to favour traditional activities and community development.

Policy Options:

The Bersimis complex is an excellent example to illustrate the following key features that highlight current good practices in sustainable business management of the hydropower sector:
- Capitalizing on domestic energy supply, offering more independence from fluctuating oil and gas prices
- Optimizing the utilisation of existing infrastructures to preserve other pristine regions
- Ensuring reliability and flexibility of the electric system through remote reservoirs
- Capacity to sustain integration of other renewables which are of intermittent nature
- Fostering regional development
- Stakeholder involvement and ongoing dialogue
- Local project acceptance
- Establishing partnerships with communities
- Joint initiatives to protect highly valued resources
- Continuous collaboration with indigenous people
- A good hydropower project can create conservation areas for biodiversity

Summary:

The Bersimis hydroelectric complex comprises two jointly operated powerhouses, Bersimis-1 (1 125 MW) and Bersimis-2, a 845 MW run-of-river power station as well as a 42 km2 reservoir which were built between 1953 and 1959. At the beginning of 2000, the project's electricity production has been substantially increased by 825 GWh, thanks to the partial diversion of three rivers.

Throughout the past decades, this well-designed and constructed hydropower scheme has been operated with high efficiency and flexibility, while complying with the most recent safety criteria. At the end of the 20th century, following technical and environmental studies, three partial river diversion projects were added to increase the existing infrastructure's efficiency with a further energy output of 825 GWh per year.

During the planning phase of the partial river diversion projects, two main issues turned out to be of importance: the downstream salmon habitat and the Innu Aboriginal rights on the territory. In the early nineties, a joint agreement was reached with the Innu community of Betsiamites, putting forth a joint venture restoration program for the highly valued Atlantic salmon.

These three partial diversions of the rivers Portneuf, Sault-aux-Cochons and Manouane were realised under Hydro-Québec's new development policy following three essential self imposed conditions according to which each project has to be profitable under current market conditions, environmentally acceptable and well received by the communities. Comprehensive consultations led to high community acceptance of those projects and resulted in numerous partnership agreements.