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Annick Bigras on Hydro-Québec’s Commitment to Dam Safety
Spillway of the Robert-Bourassa Generating Station, located on the La Grande River, which forms part of the James Bay Project.
H
ydro-Québec is the publicly owned hydropower company that provides 99 percent of the electricity in the province of Québec. The province’s long history of hydropower, coupled with the policies that were put into place after the Saguenay Flood of 1996, have resulted in Hydro‑Québec’s excellent dam safety program. In this interview, Hydro-Québec Director of Dams and Infrastructure Expertise Annick Bigras tells Hydro Leader about her organization and its commitment to dam safety. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
20 | HYDRO LEADER | March 2021
Annick Bigras: Hydro-Québec is wholly owned by the government of Québec. It was the result of the nationalization of hydroelectricity in 1944 and 1963. Today, Hydro-Québec has about 20,000 employees and is made up of four divisions: Hydro-Québec Production, which generates electricity; HydroQuébec TransÉnergie, which transmits high-voltage electricity; Hydro-Québec Distribution, which distributes energy for consumer use; and Hydro-Québec Équipement, which designs and builds dams, generating stations, and transmission lines. We have 62 generating stations with a total installed capacity of 37,000 megawatts. We own 668 dams and 27 reservoirs. Hydro Leader: Is all your infrastructure located in the province of Québec? Annick Bigras: Yes. We operate only in Québec. We buy some electricity from Churchill Falls Generating Station, but most of our generation occurs in Québec. Hydro Leader: Does the fact that Hydro-Québec resulted from the nationalization of hydropower imply that your company is the only hydroelectric company in the province? hydroleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF HYDRO-QUÉBEC.
Annick Bigras: I have a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in geotechnics, which I earned in a collaboration with Hydro-Québec. Afterward, I began working on a Hydro-Québec construction site, where a 171‑meter rockfill dam was being built. I’ve been with Hydro-Québec for 24 years. I worked in the company’s design and construction division for 13 years before moving to the power generation division in 2010. I was in charge of the dams expertise department and managed a group of 40 engineers in hydrology, hydraulics, geotechnics and structural analysis. Last year, I became the director of dams and infrastructure expertise.
Hydro Leader: Please tell us about Hydro-Québec.
