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The rewards of innovation
from Annual Report 2021
by Hydro-Québec
With the energy transition underway, innovating is more important than ever. That’s because ingenuity can have a direct impact on efforts to fight climate change and decarbonize the economy. Every dollar invested in innovation has to boost energy efficiency returns if the savings are to create more collective wealth.
With our traditional approaches being turned on their heads, we are increasingly adopting digital solutions that are able to meet our energy needs, enhance our energy efficiency programs and help decarbonize and strengthen our power grid for the benefit of current and future generations.
At Hydro-Québec, we can also count on the ingenuity of the scientists, technicians and engineers at our world-class research center, IREQ, who support our teams in every facet of their activities, from power generation to delivery. This force for innovation has proven to be an invaluable asset as the electricity industry continues to face changes that will inevitably transform the way energy is supplied and used.
THE REWARDS OF INNOVATION
We are ramping up the energy transition by supporting innovative solutions that can meet our energy needs and reinforce our power system while helping decarbonize Québec for the benefit of current and future generations. Backed by other players in energy efficiency and collective intelligence, we are helping to prepare Québec’s energy future!
We’re joining forces to encourage energy-related innovation.
Smart innovative solutions
A visionary and environmental pioneer for choosing hydropower, Hydro-Québec has long been guided by green ambition. Today, the company strives to play a key role in decarbonizing the economy, and its subsidiaries will be pivotal in accelerating the energy transition. The energy transition is the gradual replacement of energy produced from fossil fuels with various forms of renewable energy. It is also the shift to energy-saving behaviors and away from overconsumption and energy waste. Specializing in energy storage, smart energy management and transportation electrification, our subsidiaries help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while generating positive economic spin-offs for the company and society at large and contributing to collective wealth. In 2021, a new subsidiary was created to spark innovation and step up the energy transition: InnovHQ. This subsidiary facilitates the development and the marketing of innovative solutions, in addition to forging ties with Québec’s innovation ecosystem—particularly with start-ups and universities.
Spurring energy innovation
On November 30, our subsidiary InnovHQ organized the first Together for Energy Efficiency event, designed to mobilize and encourage players in the energy innovation ecosystem. Roundtables covered a wide range of topical subjects, including sustainable mobility, energy efficiency and the role of the circular economy in the energy transition. By bringing together experts, entrepreneurs, researchers and other leaders, we are accelerating the sharing of knowledge and ideas that is so critical to the development of promising energy innovations. This event will contribute to the future of energy innovation in Québec. Greenhouse innovations
To advance Québec’s transition toward food self-sufficiency, InnovHQ launched the Open Innovation Challenge: Greenhouses in cooperation with Cycle Momentum. The initiative encourages the development and implementation of concrete technological solutions to optimize environmental and energy management in greenhouses. InnovHQ benefited from the engagement, cooperation and pooled resources of a number of industry players. The Challenge will give finalist SMEs and start-ups a chance to develop and test new technologies in partnership with Hydro-Québec, businesses, academics and customers. This new approach will create value and have a positive impact on the local economy as well as society as a whole.
Collective energy
Supporting local businesses. Creativity is another inexhaustible resource at the disposal of Quebecers. We’re delighted that there are so many young companies in Québec that help us dream of a greener future, whether it’s converting waste into clean fuel or finding innovative ways to recycle plastic or treat wastewater. What if Hydro-Québec helped them make that dream a reality? The idea enjoys widespread support. Fully 95% of Quebecers welcome the idea of Hydro-Québec supporting SMEs that innovate in the field of clean energy.
THE REWARDS OF INNOVATION
The energy industry is undergoing profound transformations that have been prompted by the search for sustainable solutions to the impacts of climate change, ways to meet our customers’ new consumption needs long-term, and scenarios to adapt to the evolution of their habits, as well as greater access to technology. To put in place the power system of tomorrow, we seek to establish partnerships with key players in the innovation ecosystem.
We are bringing together green technologies and digital technologies.
Greening building heating systems
Our teams are developing an array of technological solutions to help customers capitalize on green technologies while reducing their impact on the power grid. This year we transferred our Megapac heat pump control algorithms for large buildings to our partner Emerson. The heat pump, which can replace oil and gas heating systems for commercial and institutional buildings, will be rolled out in Québec in 2022. Integration of DERs
With the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs), smart digital technologies will transform the unidirectional power grid currently in place into a bidirectional energy system. Using a virtual generating station test platform, our teams are gaining knowledge that will enable Hydro-Québec to manage such a system. They are preparing the company for changes in the energy market and grid management by testing various approaches to distributed energy control, identifying issues involving communication protocols, exploring constraints related to regulatory requirements, etc.
Thermostat setpoint strategies
IREQ is continuing to break new ground to advance the ongoing development of our Hilo subsidiary. In 2021, our research teams confirmed that the thermostats used for Hilo’s smart home solution meet expectations: providing customers with optimal comfort, enabling them to save on energy and assisting with peaks (demand response and recovery management following power failures). In addition, the team developed the thermostat setpoint strategies to be applied to Hilo customers’ thermostats during demand response events (“Hilo challenges”). Set prior to each event, those strategies deliver the minimum comfort levels that customers demand. Other research projects geared to the program included load-regulating anti-legionella water heaters, smart charging stations, the energy coach and Hilo services for business customers.
Collective energy
Focusing on research. While Quebecers are willing to make immediate changes to their habits, they also want research and development on new technologies such as biofuel and better ways to store energy. It’s a perfect mission for Hydro-Québec. 82% of Quebecers approve of the fact that Hydro-Québec is actively participating in the development of green fuel. On the right track. Hydro-Québec is currently taking part in a project to produce green hydrogen through the electrolysis of water. The hydrogen will be used to fuel trucks—or even trains— equipped with fuel cells and to produce clean fuel for planes and boats. That should go a long way to decarbonizing the transportation industry!
THE REWARDS OF INNOVATION
You can thank the R&D work carried out by Hydro-Québec and its partners for the only solid-state battery currently on the market. It will become an effective means of improving performance and reducing costs. Our breakthroughs in lithium anode and polymer technologies have made Hydro-Québec a leader in the development of next-generation batteries.
We’re tapping into our experts’ ingenuity.
Electricity system design and operation
At IREQ, the team in charge of the system operation simulation tool (OSER) project successfully implemented a first version of the tool in a transmission system simulation environment. Team members performed two studies to determine the impact of integrating a large number of DERs onto the grid. The simulations focused on two three-day periods, one close to the winter peak and marked by intense electric vehicle charging activity, and the other close to the summer low, when greater photovoltaic power generation was brought online.
Asset reliability and sustainment
To ensure the reliability and long-term operability of our assets and make cost-effective investments over the long term, we are developing technologies to provide real-time data on facility status. With that information in hand, we can make the best possible decisions on asset management and maintenance. A new advanced generator diagnostics (DIAAA) tool allows us to visually inspect rotors and measure the magnetic flux of the air gap and the insulation resistance. A first version of the Athéna operations simulator recreates the generating fleet’s response to various generation management and unit outage strategies, which can sometimes be complex. Athéna compares the potential operating strategies and identifies the best ones according to power system constraints. We developed a preindustrial prototype of a robotic vehicle for inspecting transmission substations. Called RIAUPEL, this robot is able to cover long distances without human intervention and to accurately determine the condition of our facilities. It increases safety by limiting workers’ movements within the substations.
Partnership agreements
DroneVolt, Université de Sherbrooke and Hydro-Québec signed an agreement in connection with their project on self-navigating drones and interactions with live lines (NADILE). The partners aim to equip the LineDrone to fly autonomously and land automatically on energized conductors. The drone will have to plan its own route, recognize its surroundings and any obstacles, determine its position in relation to them, and land on the target conductor without any human guidance. Hydro-Québec also signed a partnership agreement with Nucleom, a company in the city of Québec, regarding the LineCore and LineOhm technologies for inspecting transmission lines. The agreement covers the industrialization and commercialization of the systems, which were developed by IREQ’s inspection and maintenance robotics team.
At the start of the year, Hydro-Québec and ASI Services techniques—a division of ASI Group Ltd., a global leader in underwater inspection, maintenance and repair—signed an agreement to commercialize WireScan technology. This unique patented technology, developed by a Hydro-Québec R&D team, is a laser scanning tool that can precisely measure hydro dam components such as stop log and gate slots, both above and below the waterline.
WireScan provides dam owners with accurate 3D data to assess facility conditions, a prerequisite for effective asset management. WireScan data detects anomalies and enables owners to plan repairs, thereby optimizing refurbishment strategies and reducing the risk of gate failure. The technology also significantly reduces risks for workers by limiting traditional manned inspections.
