La Grande Project

"La Grande" is the name given to a huge energy generation project designed to produce vast quantities of hydro-electricity by harnessing and diverting some of the rivers on the east side of Baie James some 1200 km (750 mi.) or so north of Montréal. The massive generating plants constructed here by Hydro-Québec supply electricity not only to the industrial centers of Québec province but also for export to the USA. During the planning phase in the 1960s and 1970s, the project aroused furious controversy throughout the province. The scheme had the support of influential political circles surrounding the former Prime Minister Robert Bourassa. Ranged against it were conservationists who stressed the environmental risks, and representatives of the Indian population of the affected area who feared for their way of life and culture. Opposition parties and economists doubted the financial viability of the scheme. The issue finally came to a head when the Fédération des Travailleurs du Québec came out in support of starting work on the vast construction site. Following a long and turbulent debate in the provincial parliament, the vote went in favor of the project. Hydro-Québec emphasized the value of the hydro-energy potential of the region, while the Baie James Development Company pointed to the possible dangers to nature on this 350,000 sq. km (135,000 sq. mi.) area. From the various alternative programs it was decided for a number of reasons to go ahead with the Grande Rivière project. The granite and gneiss stone found on this fairly high plateau behind the coastal strip was well-suited to the construction of a complex of this kind. Other points in its favor were the many Ice Age lakes and moraines, the 800 km (500 mi.) long Grande Rivière with its tributaries and the other waterways in the region. There are frequent floods, but for the purposes of the current project the rivers Nottaway, Broadback and Rupert have been brought under control. Weather conditions are extreme: on average, temperatures range between 223°C (9°F) to 120°C (68°F) in summer and in winter the dry cold can take temperatures down to as low as 250°C (58°F).

The Inuit and Cris Indians who lived there presented a further problem. Controversy ranged and in December 1972 work was postponed. In 1975 a contract was signed agreeing on a compensation payment and a change in the way the project was to be carried out.

Among other things this project includes the construction of three giant power stations along the Grande Rivière and the diversion of the Eastmain, Opinaca and Caniapiscau rivers.

The building program was in two phases: the first, , embraced the construction of three power stations between 1972 and 1985, a power grid of 5000 km (3100 mi.) with cables carrying some 740 kV and two river diversions. The cost was about 15 billion dollars, with European - especially French - shareholders.

The second phase included the Grande Rivière, Grande Baleine and Mattaway-Broadback-Rupert projects.