As Quebec aggressively scales up its wind energy infrastructure, aiming to add 10,000 megawatts of new capacity by 2035, the Cree Development Corporation (CDC) is launching consultations with land users to identify potential priority areas for future turbines.
There are currently no wind energy projects in Eeyou Istchee. Any project would require Cree leadership, community involvement and land-user participation. Through CDC’s early-engagement approach, community members are engaged before the design of any potential project.
“We’re just getting started, focusing more on the social acceptability,” explained CDC’s Clarke Shecapio. “We want to meet with land users to see if they’re open to having these wind turbines on their trapline. If they’re not, that discussion will end, but we’ll continue with those who are open.”
The CDC plans to make presentations to local leadership and collect data from the tallymen of 99 identified traplines over the summer and fall before releasing a final report and project map by the end of the year. Land users will be provided information about the study as they highlight specific areas, document concerns and ask questions.
Areas will be assessed for technical feasibility, considering criteria such as wind speed, proximity to Hydro-Québec’s substations and transmission lines, and how easily the terrain can be built upon. A location’s long-term economic viability is also a factor. Protected areas are strictly off-limits.
“We don’t want to disrupt hunting camps, harvesting areas, wildlife areas,” said Shecapio. “Land users are masters of their area – it’s important we understand what’s important to them at the same time they understand the impacts. Half of them might say I don’t want a wind turbine. It’s hard to provide a target.”
Lakes and waterways would be unsuitable, as would areas of cultural or environmental significance. While a wind speed of 6 metres per second is generally considered the minimum acceptable, CDC’s analysis of satellite meteorological data has broadened the acceptability range to areas over 5 m/s.
“No one would ever build a wind project solely on that satellite data,” said CDC’s Marc Dunn. “They would install meteorological towers and gather at least one full year of on-site data, then an environmental assessment before building anything. So, we tell land users we’re at least three to five years out from anything being built on your trapline.”
The CDC’s “Eeyou Wind” website states that selected projects may generate long-term revenues for communities with local jobs created in construction, operations, maintenance, environmental monitoring and community liaison roles.
Their goal is to identify areas where wind energy could coexist with land use. As wind turbines produce noise, disturb habitats and may result in collisions with birds or bats, comprehensive study in collaboration with land users is important for excluding more sensitive sites from consideration.
While wind power has been a growing segment of Hydro-Québec since a wind farm was established in Gaspésie in 1998, the company updated its approach in 2024 to better support the large-scale deployment of major projects. There are currently 45 active wind farms in the province, providing 4,000 MW that powers the equivalent of 721,000 households.
With strong Indigenous resistance to hydroelectric mega-projects, renewable wind energy is viewed as a natural fit for Quebec’s evolving needs. Wind turbines can be installed relatively rapidly with low long-term operating costs. Strong winds and the higher density of cold air increase output during the winter.
To reach its goal of expanding wind power to meet the needs of two million households by 2035, Hydro-Québec has realized it must work closely with First Nations and other communities from the very start to ensure their full participation, aligning projects with local priorities, providing lasting benefits and fitting harmoniously into the surroundings.
In May, a financing program worth over $5 billion was announced with banking partners to enable Indigenous communities to invest in wind energy infrastructure on their lands. Hydro-Québec CEO Claudine Bouchard said the initiative responds to requests from Indigenous leaders to play a greater role in these projects.
“We’re looking at projects that would supply the grid with energy,” said Dunn. “Once it’s in the grid, it becomes a giant pool of electricity and goes in different directions. However, you can say this project is going to produce 200 kw/h, so therefore we want to target 200 kw/h in the community for industrial development as an offset.”
Whapmagoostui, the only off-grid Cree community, has plans to build a hybrid power plant near the mouth of the Great Whale River with two turbines providing 3 MW of wind power. The community is located at the southern tip of Nunavik, which is gradually shifting from a reliance on diesel fuel. Operating on a smaller scale, this project isn’t connected with CDC’s study.
“These projects can really be operated and owned by the communities,” said Carson Tagoona, communications director for Tarquti Energy, which is building a 3,000-kw wind turbine in the Nunavik village of Quaqtaq. “Funnily enough, the high winds that we have in the North are actually a challenge for certain turbines.”
Both Shecapio and Dunn emphasized that the current study is a preliminary step for future discussions and there are no commitments to developing any project. Rather than seeking locations to develop a predetermined amount of energy, their approach works the other way around by involving land users from the beginning and integrating their concerns into the study’s design.
“This way of working reflects an important paradigm shift in how things are assessed,” Dunn asserted. “When they feel involved in a process, they feel a kind of ownership and they’re more willing to go forward. We’re going to walk with you and take off the map right away the places you’re not interested in. We’re proponents of a process – start with the land users.”