THE BAY | Passing through Saguenay, the Conservatives reiterated their support for the Quebec LNG gas pipeline project, which they say would help solve Europe’s energy crisis, an idea questioned by an expert.
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The Conservative leader said he was “happy” to learn of Pierre Fitzgibbon’s openness to the realization of the LNG Quebec project. Radio-Canada announced this morning that the Quebec Secretary of Commerce’s office has taken informal steps with the federal government.
In that exchange, the cabinet would have indicated that there would be a will from Quebec to reconsider the project if the CAQ is re-elected on October 3.
Prime Minister Legault, meanwhile, closed the door on the natural gas liquefaction project during a news conference on Wednesday morning.
“Today we need to know who is lying. Is it Secretary Fitzgibbon who lies when he talks to his federal colleagues, or does Mr. Legault lie when he talks to Quebecers?” Eric Duhaime asked the press.
According to the conservative leader, the war in Ukraine has highlighted the need to be as “self-sufficient” in terms of energy as possible. He also argued that this project would have environmental benefits due to the geopolitical context.
“We see that Russian liquid gas no longer goes to Germany. And we see Germans opening coal-fired power plants, an energy source that is 60% more polluting than natural gas,” he said.
marginal contribution
“Quebec is not an island on earth. If efforts can be made to reduce greenhouse gases everywhere, we must contribute as much as we can,” agrees Sylvain Audette, HEC professor specializing in energy markets.
The expert believes that the solution to the energy crisis in Europe will probably not come from Canada.
“It is more reasonable to think that Europe will turn to Algeria or Qatar. It’s nice to produce gas and load it onto ships to cross the Atlantic, but the law of supply and demand means that the greater the distance, the higher the prices. Prices therefore become more attractive to Europeans when energy sources come from infrastructure closer to Europe,” he explains.
Quebec’s potential contribution to solving the energy crisis in Europe would therefore be “minimal”, according to Mr. Audette, particularly given the time required to build the infrastructure.
“Although the infrastructure already exists in Canada, the Énergie Saguenay project would require the construction of the pipeline. It’s a green field, we’re starting from scratch, which makes the project very hypothetical.
“We’re talking about two or three years for setting up the infrastructure and signing contracts. Germany will probably have found solutions to its problems by now,” concludes the professor.
More details to come…