Hydro-Quebec's High-Voltage Interconnections

Abstract

In the past decade, significant amounts of surplus hydroelectric energy was made available by Hydro-Quebec to neighboring utilities as costs lower than their operating costs for fossil fuel power plants. Recently, firm energy and firm power contracts have been signed in addition to the interconnection and energy banking agreements. The most significant utilities involved include, in Canada, Ontario-Hydro and New Brunswick Power, and in the United States, the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL), and groups of utilities in Vermont. Following a brief description of the Hydro-Quebec generation and transmission systems, the operating experience of the last decade will be discussed in this paper in terms of energy exchanges and of practical limits to operating high capability interconnections.