Québec’s Green Hydrogen and Bioenergy Strategy

  • June 1, 2022
  • Posted by: Stephanie Simard
  • Category: Non catégorisé
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$12.5 million to support the Quebec Network on Smart Energy and the Energy Squad

 

As part of the unveiling of Québec’s Green Hydrogen and Bioenergy Strategy, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonatan Julien, confirmed a total of $12.5 million in financial assistance over five years to support the Réseau québécois sur l’énergie intelligente (RQEI) and the Escouade énergie, a group of Energy Transition CCTTs. This assistance, administered by the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), will make it possible to finance and coordinate the acquisition of equipment by universities, colleges and college centres for technology transfer (CCTT), and to carry out, in collaboration with these same partners, activities aimed at structuring and supporting research in the fields of green hydrogen and bioenergy.

“We are very pleased that the search for and training of skilled workers is at the heart of the government’s strategy. Obtaining this funding is a great sign of confidence in the RQEI and the Energy Squad, which are committed to uniting the driving forces around the broad theme of energy transition. In this sense, we will make it our duty to invest these funds in research and development projects and initiatives that will help make Quebec a leader in green hydrogen and bioenergy issues,” said Loïc Boulon, Director of the RQEI and professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UQTR.

“We are proud that the first major financial support announced in this Strategy is to support the training of skilled workers and applied research. This shows the strategic importance of the creation and optimization of Quebec know-how for the government. For our part, this is the first major inter-level initiative (CEGEPs and universities) to serve the energy transition: all stakeholders must mobilize to achieve the ambitious energy transition objectives set and ensure that the right energy is used in the right place,” says Jeanne Charbonneau, Executive Director of the Energy Squad.

UQTR welcomes Québec’s Green Hydrogen and Bioenergy Strategy

UQTR welcomes this initiative by the Government of Quebec, as part of which its researchers in the field of green energy will be able to contribute their expertise, talents and research infrastructure to accelerate the shift to cleaner energy.

“UQTR has decades of research, development and partnerships in the fields of hydrogen and bioenergy. The unveiling of the Quebec Strategy and the orientations favoured by the government prove to us today that while UQTR’s positioning in the green energy sector was original and distinctive, it was also very relevant. Our researchers are called upon to actively contribute to efforts towards the energy transition. We are delighted with the funding granted to the RQEI. It reinforces our desire to bring together inter-level and inter-institutional expertise around energy issues. The climate emergency requires the pooling of talent from across Quebec,” said Rector Christian Blanchette.

About the Quebec Smart Energy Network

Placed under the leadership of UQTR, the RQEI is a group of Quebec experts from the research and industry communities in energy transition and innovation. The network brings together 75 researchers, more than 700 students from ten universities and six CEGEPs, as well as several partners and stakeholders in the field, and thus promotes the linking and pooling of resources in order to increase the creation, dissemination and transfer of knowledge. Its programming is based on three axes: green and intelligent vehicle systems, intelligent management of stationary systems, and energy storage and conversion.

About the CCTT Energy Squad

The Energy Squad brings together 15 college centres for technology transfer (CCTT) specializing in energy transition. It aims to catalyze the resources and multidisciplinary expertise of its members in order to offer integrated and innovative solutions to meet the complex needs of organizations and contribute to the energy transition. The Energy Squad equips Quebec businesses to improve their energy balance. The grouping of several centres makes it possible to pool the more than $160 million in equipment and expertise of its 15 research centres for industry, in particular through CITEQ-FRQNT, its group of researchers.

Source: Communications and Alumni Relations Department, UQTR